


Heads Will Roll

by dandelion3455



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-03-28 02:23:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 54,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13894224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dandelion3455/pseuds/dandelion3455
Summary: "Alright nerds, let's go with..." Beca called out to the new crop of auditioning students as she leaned back comfortably in hear chair.Little did Beca know, this start to her sophomore year is about to drastically change when a new Barden Bella is decapitated at the hood party and sent rolling into Amy like a bowling ball. This is only the beginning. These murders--murders which, Beca reluctantly admits, would be hilarious were they not so terrifyingly real--show no signs of stopping. A serial killer has silently and secretly infiltrated the a-capella community.In the midst of the hype and hysteria, Beca is having a harder and harder time dealing with a certain redheaded friend of hers. For some reason, Chloe has been doing a great job at pushing all of her buttons. And yeah, Beca decides, she kinda really needs to do something about it.





	1. Chapter 1- Heads Will Roll

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, friends, this is the beginning of something really fun! Just to give everyone an initial warning, this fiction is going to deal with some gruesome murders and will also involve a little (okay, a lot) of smut. I don't want to surprise anyone, so please just know this going in!
> 
> Despite the serial killer theme I've got going here, I want to keep this story pretty light, kind of akin to one of those scary movies that really is more funny than scary. Oh, and don't worry, I won't be killing off any of our favorite characters. Promise.
> 
> So this fiction is set in a post-PP1 world, but incorporates some elements and characters from PP2 and PP3. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1- Heads Will Roll

"Alright nerds, let's go with-" Beca leaned back in her seat confidently as she called out to the auditorium of eager college students auditioning for a spot in one of Barden's a-capella groups.

Before Beca could finish her thought, a disheveled Chloe came bursting through the back doors of the auditorium.

"Wait!" She breathlessly called out as she hurried to join the other Bellas, each of who were sitting together in the front, center portion of the auditorium.

Every head in the room swiveled around to face the bouncy redhead as she bounded through the auditorium. Beca's eyebrows raised in utter surprise. What was Chloe doing back here? Back in May, Chloe sat down with Beca over a cup of coffee and informed the younger girl that she had failed her Russian Literature classes and would be returning to Barden for a fifth year. At the time, Beca accepted this news first with shock and then with feigned disappointment, as Beca was secretly kind of glad that their friendship could continue another year. What Beca hadn't realized was Chloe was planning on continuing her stint as a Barden Bella. Not that Beca was unhappy to see Chloe, or anything. Quite the opposite, really.

Curious whispers flooded through the auditorium while Beca looked on with confused shock, trying to ignore the fact that her heart had skipped about three beats at the mere sight of Chloe. I mean, this was normal, right? Chloe was her friend, albeit they were only bound by this weird a-capella universe. But still, it was normal to feel excited after not seeing your friend all summer. That's what Beca chalked this feeling up to.

"What is Red doing here?" Amy whispered over her shoulder to Beca.

"Yeah, I thought Chloe graduated," CR piped in as her brows furrowed in confusion.

"Maybe she's-" Amy began responding, before Beca held out a hand to silent the pair.

Standing up, Beca turned to face Chloe, who at this point had made her way to the front of the auditorium and was standing directly in front of Beca. Beca didn't even have the chance to ask Chloe what was going on before the older girl enveloped Beca in the most suffocating of hugs.

"I've missed you guys so much," Chloe murmured into Beca's neck, burrowing her face into Beca's hair, while Beca's arms swung limply by her side.

Beca blushed slightly, acutely aware that Chloe's lips were mere centimeters away from Beca's neck. Beca awkwardly patted Chloe's back, which caused Chloe to latch onto Beca even more tightly.

"Funny, because it looks like she's only missed one of us," Amy muttered to Stacie, whose face cracked into a knowing grin. Most, if not all of the Bellas knew that Chloe had been not-so-secretly harboring a huge crush on Beca for about a year now.

"Can't. Breathe," Beca choked out hoarsely.

"Is that your way of saying you missed me, too?" Chloe asked, pulling away from Beca and shooting her the Chloe Beale signature wink.

Beca cleared her through, which for some reason was now feeling rather dry.

Before Beca could collect her thoughts enough to mutter a word, let alone a coherent thought, one of the obnoxious Treblemakers piped up by calling across the auditorium, "Wasn't Ginger Spice supposed to graduate last year with that uptight, blonde Nazi?"

"Hey!" Two voices sharply barked in unison. One of those voices belonged to Jesse. The other voice belonged to Beca.

"Not cool, dude," Jesse admonished, sticking up for Beca's best friend.

"It looks like ex-Barden Bella Chloe Beale is back again for a victory lap," a familiar, yet oddly placed male voice announced from the back of the auditorium.

Heads swiveled around to place the voice of the man that was now giving a play-by-play breakdown of this unusual situation. The voice belonged to none other than John Smith, the ever-misogynistic half of "John and Gail," those weird a-capella commenters that were everywhere... inexplicably.

"Yes, John," Gail agreed cheerfully, "It's very unfortunate, yet altogether unsurprising."

"Women just aren't as smart as men. That might explain her failing grade in Russian Literature last spring," John reasoned while Gail shook her head.

"How do you even know that?" CR called out, addressing the pair for the first time ever. Wasn't it against some kind of rule for these people to access Chloe's education records?

"We have our ways, young lady," John responded. "Or sir. Can't tell which, really," he continued with confusion.

CR frowned heavily.

Gail continued on in her usual ditzy, but cheerful voice. "But the question becomes, can Chloe Beale reclaim a spot in the coveted, ICCA-winning'-"

"Yes. She for sure can," Beca called out, interrupting Gail. "That's not even a question."

Turning to face Chloe, Beca gave her the smallest of sympathetic smiles, quirking her lips up briefly. Chloe smiled back at Beca. Although Beca didn't wear her heart on her sleeve the same way Chloe did, Beca was actually quite expressive if you knew how to read her. A quick tight lipped smile was about as close as Beca would get to saying, 'welcome back.'

"Thanks, Becs," Chloe answered breezily, sliding past Beca to join her rightful place with the Bellas.

"You got it, co-captain," Beca answered. Turning to face the rest of the Bellas, Beca confirmed that everyone agreed Chloe should remain a captain on the team, to which each Bella gave resounding affirmation.

"Well, there you have it, folks," John announced from the back of the auditorium. "The Bellas secure their eighth slot with yet another woman who, in five years, will probably be pregnant anyhow."

Beca whipped her head back around aggressively. "Okay. What are you guys even doing here?" She asked. She was more than done with these two and their nonsense.

"Yeah, get out!" A High Note piped in.

"Ah, I'm afraid we can't," Gail said, feigning regret, though Beca suspected Gail felt the opposite of regretful. "We're filming a documentary chronicling the normal day-to-day lives of competitive a-capella teams!"

"We're calling it, 'Perfect Harmony,'" John contributed.

Gail clicked her tongue, unimpressed with John's name for the documentary. "What about 'Matching Pitches'?" Gail suggested.

"Hmm," John considered thoughtfully. "Oh! I got it. Pitch Perfect!" John supplied, satisfied with his own ingenuity.

"There it is!" Gail agreed, perfectly thrilled with the now-determined name of their documentary.

"Okay men and not-men," John said, addressing the auditorium of people, "This is supposed to be an authentic insight into your pathetic lives. Act normal. Pretend we're not even here."

The entire auditorium more or less rolled their eyes, grumbling amongst themselves.

"Hard to do when they're literally blabbing back there every other second," Amy muttered loudly.

"I'm going to kill them," Lilly whispered inaudibly.

Figuring that pushing and fighting the duo out of the room was more effort than it was worth, Beca turned her attention back to the task at hand. Auditions.

Beca turned to Chloe. "Trust me on this?" Beca asked the older girl.

"With my life," Chloe beamed, giving Beca's arm a light squeeze.

"Alright nerds," Beca called out for a second time that day, "Let's go with... Miley Cyrus's Party in the U.S.A."

An excited buzz spread across the crowd like a contagion. The auditioning students, of course, knew the set piece ahead of time. The established, veteran a-capella members, however, were surprised by Beca Mitchell's choice. Even people that didn't know Party in the U.S.A. knew Party in the U.S.A., Beca figured. It was incredibly catchy. Moreover, it had the right kind of background instrumentals to comprehensively test all aspects of a-capella performances.

Chloe's smile spread as she linked arms with Beca, leaning her head onto the smaller girl's shoulder. Maybe Beca hadn't intended her song choice to be sentimental, but Party in the U.S.A. instantly took Chloe back to her competition days last year with the other Bellas. The gang had shared a bonding moment when Chloe absentmindedly began singing the song on the bus one afternoon in route to a competition. CR had joined in, followed by Stacie, Aubrey and the others. The lone holdout was Beca, who did everything she could to appear disinterested in the whole impromptu jam session. It took prompting from the entire gang of girls before Beca's 'over this' attitude cracked and she smiled, joining in the chorus of the song.

"Dude, you're killing my badass vibe," Beca whispered out the side of her mouth, shaking Chloe off her arm.

Chloe snapped back to present moment. Shit, she was kind of all over Beca right now. Not that she could help it. For some reason, Chloe felt drawn to Beca in ways she couldn't explain. She didn't consider it weird or unusual to hold hands or play with Beca's hair when they sat next to one another. In fact, Chloe didn't consider it at all. She just did it. It felt nice. Comfortable. Familiar. Chloe had to often remind herself that Beca wasn't like Chloe in that way. Beca had physical boundaries, albeit Chloe was certain that she was chipping away at those boundaries.

Chloe sat up in her own chair and cleared her throat. "Sorry, I'd hate people to think you were... not totally averse to human contact," Chloe smiled, half-playfully, half-apologetically.

Beca rolled her eyes, though Chloe could tell there was a slight hint of humor there.

"Wanna do the honors here, Chloe?" Beca asked, passing the stack of tryout signup sheets over to Chloe. If Chloe was her co-captain, the least Chloe could do was help by reading off the names of the auditions and taking notes on their performances. Okay, yeah, that was kind of a lot to ask. But Beca was pretty certain Chloe lived for shit like that. And it was important if they were going to be co-captains that they work in harmony.

"I'd love to," Chloe answered with a grin, taking the large stack of papers from Beca.

Looking down at the first sheet on the list, Chloe called out, "Florencia Fuentes?"

Four hours and countless performances later, some of which were great, others of which were terrible, a-capella auditions concluded and the groups deliberated. After a fair amount of blood, sweat, and tears, the Bellas decided to extend invitations to three new members: sophomore Florenica Fuentes, who went by the name "Flo," and two freshman students named Tina and Casey.

After tryouts the girls walked back to the Bella house in tandem. The idea of having a "house" was still foreign. Unexpectedly, Beca received an email over the summer from the dean of the University informing her that an anonymous benefactor, a Bella alumna, had donated 1.5 million dollars to build the Barden Bellas a house. From that point onward, history had practically written itself. The Bellas had moved in to their new house just over one week ago.

Amy predictably had claimed the largest bedroom, which was located in the attic of the house, though no one minded much, as the attic made creaky sounds at night. The middle floor held six bedrooms, which were doled out to CR, Stacie, Beca, Jessica, Ashley, and Lilly. Apart from Jessica and Ashley, who for some reason, had insisted on sharing a room, everyone else now enjoyed her own room. The bottom floor contained a foyer, kitchen, living room, laundry room, and dining room. In addition to the attic and two main levels of the house, the Bella house contained a basement. The basement was empty, presumably designed for storage, Beca figured.

As the girls walked through the front door of their new home, it occurred to them that they had one more person than was present this morning.

"Erm, Beca?" Amy asked.

"Yeah?" Beca answered.

"What are we gonna do about… you know," Amy trailed off, nudging her head very indiscreetly at Chloe. Beca looked at Amy blankly.

"You know," Amy repeated, practically having a spasm as she kept nudging her head over at Chloe.

"Chloe," Amy coughed into her fist.

"Subtle," Beca responded sarcastically, as Chloe turned around to acknowledge the exchange.

"Guys, it's totally okay. You've already got rooms and-"

"Nonsense," Beca cut the older girl off. "You should live here. If you want to, that is?" Beca asked, searching Chloe for any indication over what the other girl might be thinking.

"Of course she'll live here!" Stacie exclaimed, hugging Chloe from behind. "The Bellas are family! And besides, who else is gonna drive me to the store at two in the morning to buy condoms?"

"Yeah, uh, I'm with her. About us being family, that is," CR added, cutting a glance over to Stacie, who shrugged nonchalantly. "You're gonna have to roll with us, girl," CR told Chloe.

Lilly whispered something undecipherable while Jessica and Ashley chimed in with their unquestioned support.

"So what do you say, Beale?" Beca asked. "Are you in or what?"

"I'm in," Chloe responded automatically, a smile cracking across her face. Chloe all but swore she saw relief flash across Beca's face, which made Chloe feel even happier.

"Yay!" Stacie exclaimed, enveloping Chloe in a hug.

The rest of the girls quickly joined the hug, even Beca, who although enjoyed pretending she didn't love these moments with the girls, was secretly thrilled. They were all together. And Chloe was going to be living with them. Beca wasn't sure why, but that seemed really important.

The girls gave Chloe the grand tour of the new house, and to say she was impressed was an understanding. Chloe couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that an anonymous Bella had just donated all of this money for the girls to live so lavishly. In the past, each of the Bellas had more or less figured out their own living arrangements. Often times, they would share apartments or dorm rooms, but having all of the Bellas together under one room was beyond Chloe's wildest imagination. Chloe's stomach tightened and butterflies danced in her stomach when she imagined what it would be like to live with Beca for the next year. Maybe this year… maybe.

"This is a really large portrait, no?" Beca asked, snapping Chloe back into reality. The girls were now all standing in front of a large portrait in the foyer of the house. This, it appeared, was the finishing point to the grand house tour.

"Yeah, way too big," CR agreed. "I know an anonymous benefactor donated this house to us and all, but does she really want to punish us by making us keep this monstrous painting in the foyer?"

"Really throws off the décor in here," Stacie observed, looking around.

"Which one do you think gave the money?" Chloe asked, studying the twelve faces on the composite closely. "Do you think it was her?" Chloe asked, pointing her finger over the first girl listed alphabetically on the composite portrait.

"T. Cobbledick," Amy read aloud. "Ehhhhh, probably not. She looks like she can't even tie her own shoes properly."

"Amy, that's mean!" Chloe admonished. "I'm sure she's totes a great person even though she..." Chloe trailed off with a frown, biting her lower lip as she tried to find the words to finish her sentence nicely.

"Is wearing a sweater with bunnies on it, has braces, and a mullet?" Beca supplied sarcastically.

"Becs!" Chloe turned on Beca, placing her hands on her hips, as she faced the girl sternly. Now that Beca was a co-captain, she had to at least go through the motions of being a role model.

Beca and Amy exchanged bemused glances before Beca guiltily met Chloe's icy blue gaze and swallowed her laugh.

"Good thing we're way cooler than that," Amy continued, undeterred by Chloe's scolding.

"That's debatable," Beca answered, turning on her heels to walk into the kitchen.

"What's cooler than a bunch of ladies living together while they compete internationally and make music with their mouths?" Chloe asked with unbridled positivity.

Beca turned around to face Chloe. She looked like a puppy dog, radiating sheer happiness. Her wide smile showed off her pearly white teeth perfectly, while her blue eyes dazzled in the natural light permeating from the foyer windows. It was amazing how stupidly good Chloe looked. Even when she talked about 'making music from her mouth' without a hint of lewd suggestion.

"Probably most things," Beca answered evenly, before turning back around and striding into the kitchen.

A self-satisfied grin graced Beca's face as she heard Chloe gasp at her comment. Chloe was Beca's friend and everything, but Beca still couldn't resist pulling her strings sometimes. Beca hoped it didn't make her an asshole… Yeah, it probably made her an asshole.

"Not cool, Beca!" Stacie called out, as the kitchen door swung closed behind Beca.

"I need to go catch up with her," Chloe said, not wasting a second before leaving the group of girls and following Beca into the kitchen. "We'll come find you all in a bit to get ready for the party tonight?" Chloe asked, not bothering to so much as turn around.

"Sure," Stacie purred. "Take your time. I'm sure you and Beca need to get 'reacquainted.'"

Chloe bit down a grin as she pretended not to hear Stacie's comment. It was no secret that the girls relentlessly teased Beca and Chloe about the nature of their friendship. Chloe found the antics amusing and even occasionally played along. Beca, on the other hand was a different story. At best, Beca would ignore the teasing. At worst, she would get irritated and clap back. Chloe didn't think Beca realized that her reaction egged the girls on further. Playfully getting a rise out of Beca was a favorite pastime of most of the Bellas, Amy particularly.

Chloe entered the kitchen to find Beca sitting on the island of the kitchen, demolishing a bag of Doritos. Chloe smiled at how cute Beca looked in this moment.

"The orange powder around your lips is a sexy look," Chloe teased, saddling up next to Beca and leaning her elbows on the kitchen island.

"I was hungry," Beca explained by way of reasoning, licking the colored flavoring off her fingers and then her lips.

"Yeah, these auditions are a tiring process," Chloe agreed.

"Tell me about it. Makes me wonder why you came back for a fifth year."

Chloe chuckled lightly, but said nothing.

"Why did you, though?" Beca asked sincerely, unable to resist from asking the very question that had been weighing so heavily on her mind.

"I like being a Bella," Chloe answered simply, standing up to look Beca in the eyes. Her perfect, stormy blue eyes. "If I'm here at Barden anyhow, I want to be here with you. All of you," Chloe quickly added, so not to make it sound like she was only here for Beca's benefit. "I want to be a part of this. Because it feels important to me."

Beca nodded intently, setting the mostly-empty bag of Doritos to the side. Folding her hands in her lap, Beca stared at her hands and responded, "I'm glad you're back." Looking up at Chloe, Beca added, "Really."

"Oh, Becs," Chloe grinned, unable to resist hugging the other girl.

This time, Beca hugged her back. Maybe it was because no other people were around, or maybe Beca was just having one of her odd sentimental moments, but Beca really hugged her back, burying her head in the dip right below Chloe's chin. Chloe inhaled deeply, taking in the vanilla-like scent of the younger girl's shampoo. Chloe had forgotten how much she missed the smell until this moment. It was all coming back so strongly. There really was an inexplicable draw to Beca, Chloe thought.

"I don't know what I'm doing," Beca admitted in a small voice, after the girls had been embraced in a hug for some time.

"It's okay, you'll learn as we go. I'll be here with you. And I know you're going to be an aca-awesome captain," Chloe affirmed truthfully. She had every faith the Beca was going to be wonderful and Chloe was excited to be along for the ride to witness everything Beca would accomplish.

"Aca-sure hope so," Beca answered with a small lopsided grin, pulling away from Chloe.

Chloe's heart skipped a beat. That grin. God, it made Chloe want to… Ugh. Chloe bit her bottom lip and tore her eyes away from Beca's lips, though she was pretty sure they had lingered for a moment too long.

Beca inhaled sharply. Was Chloe… no, she couldn't be. The girl barged into other people's showers for God's sake. Any amount of etiquette over personal boundaries didn't exist with Chloe Beale.

Shaking the inappropriate thought from her mind, Beca cleared her throat and asked, "So, uh… What do we do now?"

"We have an aca-initiation to plan!" Chloe exclaimed, her features brightening up.

"Thank God you're here for this," Beca said sincerely. "You're… like, good at this kind of thing."

Chloe giggled. "Beales are known for their excellent party planning. Fun fact," Chloe added, nudging Beca with her shoulder.

"I'll log that information away for my birthday."

"Twenty-one days from now," Chloe answered.

"You know when my birthday is?" Beca asked incredulously. No one ever remembered her birthday. Mostly because she never told anyone.

"Of course I do, silly. And don't think I haven't planned something totes perfect," she added with a wicked grin and a wink.

Somehow, the casualness of it all made Beca want to cry. Or laugh. She wasn't sure which one. Beca had never been friends with a girl like Chloe before. Maybe it was just kind of a weird adjustment being friends with the living, breathing personification of a rainbow.

"Please no Boone's Farm," Beca pleaded. For some inexplicable reason, most (all) a-capella events involved Boone's Farm. And Beca had not-so-fond memories of puking in the bathroom at the Treble's house last April while Amy screamed at the top of her lungs for Chloe to "come here and take care of your sick little kookaburra."

"Oh, speaking of," Chloe remembered, conveniently ignoring Beca's request, "We need to get some booze for the aca-initiation party tonight. Thanks for reminding me, Becs!"

"Wait, I feel like we need to circle back to the Boone's Farm because I don't think you're hearing me-"

Beca was interrupted by Chloe yelling at the top of her lungs to the whole house of girls, "Ladies! Bellas meeting in the kitchen, pronto!"

"Okay, but are we going to talk about the Boone's Farm?" Beca asked again.

"No time for that," Chloe answered hastily with a wink. "We need to get Boone's Farm for tonight!"

"Good talk," Beca muttered sarcastically to herself as Chloe and the other Bellas entered full-on party mode.

Over the next few hours the Bellas divided and conquered the set-up for aca-initiation. Chloe, the only Bella of legal age, went out to buy the alcohol. Meanwhile, Stacie, Lilly, Jessica, and Ashley set up the decorations, adorning the Bella living room with white tablecloths and candles. Beca and CR hid upstairs and played Go Fish, hoping no one would come looking for them.

"Got any eights?" Beca asked casually, taking a swig of beer from her bottle.

Currently, Beca and CR were sitting on CR's bed. CR had pulled out a six-pack of beer and the two were drinking, listening to music, and playing cards.

"Go Fish, bish," CR answered, laughing at her own joke.

"You know that joke is only funny the first time you tell it, right?" Beca asked with a stifled laugh.

"Psh, stop being such a bish," she retorted with a wave of her hand.

"Bish, please," Beca joked back, in spite of herself.

"Got any nines, bish?" CR asked.

Beca took a long sip of her beer. "Bish!" She yelled, handing over two nines.

CR laughed, grabbing Beca's cards and taking a swig of her own beer.

"So hey, does this make you wanna gamble again?" Beca asked. "I'm not, like, enabling you, right?"

"That's adorable," CR howled. "You think playing Go Fish is gonna make me relapse?"

"I don't know! It's cards," Beca reasoned.

CR scoffed. "Hardly. There are fish printed on these cards."

"Ouch, bish," Beca responded with fake offense.

The two continued drinking and playing until Beca heard the familiar cheery voice calling through the house. "Becs, I'm home!"

"Uh, oh," CR said to Beca with a worried look. "The wife is looking for you."

"Dudeeeee," Beca responded dramatically. "We're not wives. We aren't dating."

"I know," CR responded easily, "But you're still wives. Platonic, but definitely wives."

"What's that mean?" Beca asked. Normally, she would have shut down CR at the outset but Beca was a beer and a half in and marginally buzzed. The alcohol buzz, it seemed, was enough for Beca to ask the question that was on her mind.

"You have a natural connection. You look to each other for support and guidance. Even when you annoy one another, you couldn't imagine your life apart. Best friends," CR explained.

"Right. Best friends," Beca repeated, nodding her head. She guessed Chloe kind of was her best friend. Even though they hadn't kept up much the previous summer, it's not as if Beca had many other friends of which to speak. The Bellas were about the only friends Beca had. And she kind of liked it that way.

"Becs, I really need you downstairs!" Chloe called from the kitchen downstairs.

Standing up to walk downstairs and find Chloe, Beca turned back to face CR a final time. "Hey. Don't… tell Chloe about this, okay?"

"Our secret," CR agreed with a wink.

Beca hopped down the stairs two at a time to hurry into the kitchen and find Chloe. As Beca walked into the kitchen, she saw Chloe standing there at the kitchen counter, smiling contentedly at Beca, looking at her in a way that made Beca feel a little bit uncomfortable.

"What's up?" Beca asked, walking over to where Chloe was standing.

"Wanna talk through the ritual tonight, co-captain?" Chloe asked with a wink.

"Uh, yeah, let's do it," Beca answered.

Before either girl could discuss the procedure of the ritual, Beca's phone buzzed. Picking it up, Beca read a strange text message.

Text Message (Unknown Number): I heard you made a-capella history with your mixes. Tell me, what happens when you mix college parties, alcohol, and a gruesome murder?

Beca read the text message a second time and frowned.

"Everything okay over there?" Chloe asked sincerely.

"Yeah... Just Jesse. I think," Beca added as an afterthought.

"You think?"

"Yeah. I just got this text from an unknown number," Beca answered, holding her phone out for Chloe to see. "And… I think he's playing some kind of trick on me."

Chloe took the phone from Beca's hands, furrowing her brows in confusion and biting her bottom lip as she read and reread the message. Beca bit back laughter at how cutely insane Chloe looked when she was confused. It was like watching a puppy chase its tail.

"What is it supposed to mean?" Chloe asked, her icy blue eyes lifting off the phone and meeting Beca's dark blue eyes.

"That's the mystery," Beca answered with a shrug.

"You don't think it's… real, do you?" Chloe pressed nervously.

"No, of course not," Beca scoffed. Meeting Chloe's concerned gaze, Beca suddenly felt a little guilty for unloading this burden on Chloe. Beca wasn't sure if the next sentence uttered out of her mouth was more for Chloe's benefit or for her own. "This is so definitely Jesse. He's probably watching a horror movie right now and has decided to mess with me," Beca added resolutely.

"Isn't that usually the start of every horror movie?" Chloe asked anxiously. "Someone gets a weird phone call, house visitor, or message. And the person shrugs it off and tries to ignore it. And then, next thing you know… Bam! Murdered."

Unable to stop herself, Beca barked out a laugh. "This is ridiculous."

"I'm serious!" Chloe exclaimed, although she, too, couldn't stop herself from laughing after seeing Beca laugh. "People in these movies literally ignore every sign of danger until someone with a knife is literally right in front of them."

"You do realize you're talking about movies, right?" Beca asked with amusement. "Do you think this happens in real life?"

"I don't know… it could," Chloe shrugged, flicking her eyes down at the floor and back up to Beca.

"You're just like Jesse."

"Well don't tell him that," Chloe answered with a wink. "He might get jealous."

"Yeah, maybe. If we were still dating," Beca scoffed.

"What? You broke up?" Chloe asked a little too eagerly.

Chloe reeled back her enthusiasm, reminding herself that she shouldn't be happy than Beca and Jesse had broken up. Because her and Beca were just friends, right? And shouldn't 'just friends' not feel joyful hope from their 'just friend's' break-ups? Chloe fixed her expression from a look of happiness to one of sympathy.

Beca nodded, affirming Chloe's question. "Yeah, over the summer." Studying Chloe's face, which was now wearing an expression of concern, Beca continued, "Don't… give me that look. It's not a big deal, I promise."

"Aw, Becs," Chloe pulled Beca into a hug while Beca sighed, accepting a hug from Chloe for like the twentieth time that day. "I'm so sorry," Chloe offered genuinely before placing a soft kiss on the top of Beca's head.

"Chloe," Beca complained through gritted teeth. "I'm fine."

Chloe squeezed Beca tighter, pulling Beca close to her chest and preventing her from wriggling free.

"I broke up with him. We're still good friends. We're both happy about it," Beca promised.

"Are you sure?" Chloe asked, pulling away from Beca and looking the younger girl in the eyes carefully.

"Like super sure. Now can we talk about why you called me all the way down here?" Beca asked, effectively closing the door to any further conversation about the break up with Jesse.

Chloe sighed. It took a lot of effort for Beca to open up to others. Usually you would only get an occasional glimpse in her mind. But Chloe kind of liked that about Beca, she decided. She liked slowly breaking down those walls and seeing the real Beca. Because Chloe knew that the true Beca was a sight only bestowed upon a relative few. And Chloe was one of those few.

The girls continued by talking through the aca-initiation ritual and concluded that the "No Treble Rule," was undoubtedly, out the window. All that mattered was the loyalty and dedication. The rest didn't matter, Chloe and Beca agreed.

Several hours later, the three new initiates had been "kidnapped" from their dorms and driven to the Bella house. Standing before Beca and Chloe were Tina, Flo, and Casey. The other Bellas stood in a circle around the three initiates, each holding candles. Chloe quickly went through the oath, which each of the Bellas recited excitedly.

"Okay, that's it!" Beca exclaimed with a quick smile. "You're all initiated. Congrats!"

"Wooooo!" Flo yelled as Amy handed her a chalice filled with Boone's Farm.

"It's the blood of the sisters before you," Amy told Flo very seriously.

"It's definitely not," Beca corrected. "It's shitty wine."

"Still better than blood," Flo reasoned, taking a large sip.

"You two really don't have to drink that," Beca told the other two new Bellas.

"Aw, dude, it's fine," Casey answered, taking the chalice from Flo and taking at least five or six healthy gulps. "I'm already blazed out of my mind. I kind of need a downer."

"Right," Beca answered, uncomfortably shifting on her feet.

Casey continued, "I'm not saying that people who smoke weed are better, but I just really think that people who don't smoke are basically narcs."

"Feel that," Beca answered with no inflection, widening her eyes and awkwardly turning around to find Chloe. This new Bella was going to give the gang a run for their money. Beca couldn't help but wonder if Casey belonged with the High Notes, and not the Bellas.

The gang eventually made their way down to the amphitheater. True to form, the Bellas were the last to arrive to the party, not that Beca minded, as she preferred to arrive at parties when they were already booming. Nothing made Beca more uncomfortable than the awkward standing around and forced small talk that inevitably occurred before people got drunk enough to let loose.

Beca took in her surroundings. Yep, this was definitely an a-capella party. Everyone was drunk out of their minds and singing loudly to songs from the radio. Beca turned around in place, trying to find Jesse. As Beca turned around, she literally bumped into a group of five strange women, who happened to be standing right behind her.

"Jesus!" Beca jumped back, clutching her hand to her heart.

"Oh, sorry," an attractive, shorthaired brunette answered sharply. She didn't seem particularly sorry, Beca noted to herself.

"Who are y'all?" Stacie asked, inconspicuously eyeing the five new strangers up and down, undressing them with her eyes. Needless to say, every one of these ladies was totally bangable.

"We're," the shorthaired brunette began.

"Evermoist," the five girls answered in unison, their voices harmonizing perfectly though their breathy whispers.

"What's that?" Amy asked obnoxiously loud, clearly unaffected by the girls' distractingly charming presence.

"It's our a-capella group," the brunette responded as she crossed her arms and eyed Amy up and down critically.

"Your name sounds like a moist towelette," Stacie chimed in with a shrug. Sure, the girls were hot, but the name was weird.

"It's not a moist towelette!" One of the other five girls snapped, before the attractive brunette silenced her by raising her hand.

"Sounds like my Grandma's singing group, if she had one. They'd be Nevermoist," Amy joked lightly, dissolving into nervous laughter at her own joke while the five girls stared at Amy with sour and unimpressed expressions. Amy's laughs slowly subsided into awkward silence while the two a-capella groups faced each other, eyeing one another suspiciously.

Beca sighed. Beca could tell these other girls were trouble. She didn't know how she knew, but something about this didn't feel right. I mean, these girls weren't at tryouts today. So wasn't it kind of weird that they were showing up now?

Beca cleared her throat, effectively putting an end to the little squabble between Evermoist and Fat Amy. "So," Beca asked in a tone that she hoped was casual enough, "Why are you... here? I mean, no one has ever heard of you before," Beca floundered.

"Isn't it obvious?" The brunette asked insultingly to Beca. Beca frowned, standing her ground. "We're a new a-capella group on campus."

"You're total strangers!" Ashley exclaimed, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Hm," the brunette hummed with unimpressed conviction. "This is Charity," she motioned at the girl to her left, "That's Veracity, that's Serenity, that's Jubilee," the girl rattled off, "And I'm Calamity."

"If I joined your group, I could be obesity," Amy piped in with another joke that went completely unappreciated by Evermoist.

Beca bit her tongue and looked at the ground, trying not to ruin her tough conviction by laughing at Amy's joke.

"You weren't at tryouts today," Flo observed after Amy's joke had hung uncomfortably in the air for several seconds.

"Because we don't recruit losers," Charity spat.

"Hey!" Beca barked, having every intention of throwing an insult back in the attractive brunette's face. "We're not losers! You're... you're. Okay, weirdly flawless and you all have banging bodies..." Beca trailed off, her face growing scarlet. The girls were that attractive. And it was making Beca feel... weirdly flustered.

"Thanks," the brunette answered listlessly to Beca while simultaneously scanning the crowd and noting the other a-capella students.

"You can't come in here acting rude as fuck and then think you're staying at this party," CR challenged, off-put by the girls' rudeness.

"Watch us," Calamity answered. To her cohorts, Calamity continued by stating, "Let's go." Calamity motioned to her group, rudely pushing past Beca and the others to go join the party.

After generally grumbling at Evermoist's rudeness, Beca looked around, noticing some familiar faces along with some not-so familiar faces. Where was Chloe and how on earth did she miss this odd exchange? Beca scanned the crowd, noticing that most of the a-capella students were having the times of their lives. The music was playing loudly, the alcohol was flowing freely, and much of the crowd was dancing. Had it not been for Chloe's absence, Beca would have felt totally at peace.

"Looking for your man meat?" Amy asked, saddling up next to Beca.

"We broke up. And that's a gross thing to call him," Beca answered flatly, not daring to admit that she had momentarily forgotten about Jesse and was instead looking for her ginger friend.

"It's not gross. It makes me hungry," Amy considered out loud. "I wonder if there are any snacks at this party."

Beca shrugged. "Dunno," she answered distractedly, noticing for the first time an unwelcome face among the masses. "Ame?" She asked, shaking Amy's shoulder and pointing down the stage to where a certain former-Treblemaker stood dancing with a High Note.

"Bumper," Amy whispered, in total awe.

"Why's he here?"

"What? I don't know," Amy answered defensively. "Probably came back to try to win me over," she mused matter-of-factly. "He's obsessed with me. I know, I know, it's not surprising, but I should still go talk to him. Let him down easy," Amy reasoned before sauntering down the amphitheater stairs and over to where Bumper was dancing.

"Was that?" CR asked, scrunching her eyebrows to make out the shape of Bumper.

"Yeah, think so," Beca agreed.

"It's really weird he's back," Jessica pointed out. "Didn't he go to LA to sing back-up for John Mayer or something?"

Beca merely grunted at Jessica's question, before her focus was redirected elsewhere. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Chloe appeared by Beca's side.

"Where were you?" Beca demanded.

"What?" Chloe asked innocently.

"Don't pretend like you didn't just up and disappear for the last twenty minutes."

"I had… things to take care of," Chloe admitted.

"Be more cryptic. I dare you," Beca responded.

"Becs," Chloe soothed, rubbing Beca's arm. Chloe couldn't admit to Beca what she had been doing for the last twenty minutes. It would… upset the balance of things, to say the least.

Beca huffed. She supposed it didn't matter too much where Chloe was. Chloe was here now. And Beca could fill her in on the strange, out-of-nowhere appearances of both Bumper and the shitty new a-capella group.

"What's wrong? Why are you making that face?" Beca asked, pulling back from Chloe and studying her face.

"It's... nothing," Chloe answered with a fake smile and unconvincing shrug of her shoulders. Chloe was pretty sure that her answer had done nothing to fool Beca. "I'm not making a face," she added, trying and failing even harder to convince Beca that she was fine.

"That's your 'smiling in the face of disaster' face," Beca observed easily without a second thought.

Chloe was momentarily taken aback at the accuracy of Beca's statement. Was Beca really that astute?

Chloe bit her lip and looked at the ground while Beca sighed deeply. Beca wished it didn't bother her that Chloe was clearly keeping something from her. This was out of the norm for Chloe. Something really was off about tonight.

"Becs, I'm gonna go get my jiggle juice," Chloe finally answered, her normal cheer and liveliness faded somewhat.

Beca stared at Chloe and raised an eyebrow, totally unconvinced.

Chloe winked before leaning in and placing a chaste kiss on Beca's cheek. "Come find me for a dance later, okay?"

Beca nodded as she watched the redhead leave just as suddenly as she arrived. What was that? Swallowing, Beca scanned the crowd for Jesse. There he was, down near the stage, talking with the other Treblemakers.

"Jess," Beca called, playfully slapping his shoulder as she approached her friend, who was conversing with a group of other guys.

"Be-caw!" He answered excitedly, turning around. In one of his hands, was a red solo cup. Something told Beca that Jesse was well on his way to wasted already.

"My lovely lady friend," he continued sweetly, if not dramatically, as he planted a wet kiss on Beca's cheek.

"Wet," she observed, recoiled a little at the wetness of the kiss.

Jesse laughed. "Do you remember last year's hood party?" He asked, clearly feeling sentimental.

"Do I?" Beca asked rhetorically. "The better question is, do you?" She asked jokingly.

"You need to get on this level," Jesse observed to Beca.

To one of the new Treblemakers, Jesse called, "Dude! Get the lady a drink!" He pointed to Beca.

"No... it's okay," Beca assured Jesse. "I actually had a couple drinks back at the house already. Someone here has to be responsible... probably. I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Not at all!" Jesse agreed cheerfully.

"Right. Well, uh, hey, I wanted to ask you something," Beca postured. Jesse looked on at Beca intently. Continuing, Beca asked, "So, did you maybe send me this text message earlier?" Beca asked, pulling out her phone and handing it over to Jesse.

Beca studied Jesse's face carefully while he read the contents of the message. Beca was pretty sure she could tell when Jesse was properly bullshitting her. This was not one of these moments. The look on Jesse's face was utter confusion in its purest form.

"What is this?" He asked, scrunching up his face.

"That's what I'm asking you," Beca answered.

"I didn't send this, Beca," he answered honestly, taking a sip of his drink.

"Shit," Beca cursed.

Jesse looked at Beca with a confused expression. "Huh?"

"It's Chloe," Beca explained, rolling her eyes. "She… was on about this theory that a killer is among us. It's stupid, right?"

"Well, it makes sense," Jesse considered. "That's how scary movies always start out. Ever seen 'Scream?'"

Beca pursed her lips together and raised her eyebrows, as if the answer to Jesse's question weren't obvious enough. Did Beca ever watch movies?

Jesse explained, "There's always a cryptic message, followed by a series of unusual events. Notice anything strange about tonight, Beca?" Jesse asked, really embracing the ridiculous notion that this evening was the inception of a long-winded scary movie.

"Besides Bumper's unexplained return from LA and the new a-capella group that, for some hell-bent reason, isn't being talked about enough tonight? Like, is no one else wondering how they just materialized at Barden tonight? Oh, and the fact that Chloe has literally been missing for the past half hour and then comes bounding into the party like nothing is wrong and she won't tell me where she's been?"

"Yeah, those oddities will do it," Jesse clamored excitedly, nodding his head. "This is definitely the start of a scary movie."

"Great, so glad we had this talk," Beca grumbled.

"Sorry, m'lady, I don't make the rules, I just know them," he joked with a lopsided grin.

"Give me that drink," Beca requested, taking the red solo cup from Jesse's hands and taking a gulp.

"Hey," the vaguely familiar voice of Casey loomed next to Beca. "Can I have some of that?"

"Here, finish it," Beca pushed the cup at Casey and turned on her heels to go find Chloe.

Beca spent the better part of the next hour on the amphitheater stage alternatively dancing with Jesse and the other Bellas. Beca wouldn't admit it, but she was actually having a good time. Turning to Jesse, Beca smiled into the friendly face of her ex-boyfriend. Jesse really was a great guy, Beca thought… even if he was oddly obsessed with movies. Beca snapped out of her thoughts as the next song began blaring through the speakers.

Off with your head

Dance 'til you're dead

Heads will roll

Heads will roll

Heads will roll

On the floor

Glitter on the west streets

Silver over everything

The rivers all wet

You're all chrome

Dripping with alchemy

Shiver stop shivering

The glitter's all wet

You're all chrome

Beca looked around. A sea of a-capella nerds as far as the eye could see were all thrusting their fists, jumping up and down, and dancing along in time with the thick base of the song. Beca smiled to herself, feeling weirdly at peace, like she had somehow accidentally landed among the exact set of weirdos who made life fun. Beca turned around to face Jesse, who was unashamedly dancing like a total loser, his arms flailing wildly about. Beca laughed at him before joining in, beginning to feel the beat of the song.

Off, off with your head

Dance, dance 'til you're dead

Heads will roll

Heads will roll

Heads will roll

On the floor

Before Beca could fully immerse herself in the song, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Far behind Jesse's head, at the top of the amphitheater stairs, something was coming closer. It was rolling. Beca stopped dancing and squinted her eyes to decipher the nature of this dark object. Something akin to a bowling ball was bouncing down the stairs, hitting each step along the way. It was headed straight for Amy's legs, who was standing at the bottom of the set of stairs.

Not wanting her friend to be knocked over like a bowling pin, Beca called out, "Amy, watch out!"

The warning came too late. Beca heard a long, excruciating, ear-splitting scream come from Amy at the bottom of the bleachers. The entire crowd of dancers stopped in their tracks and turned to face the source of the screaming. Beca had to hand it to her, Amy had quite the belt. It could be heard over several loudspeakers and effectively brought the party to a grinding halt. Amy turned around to see what had just hit her.

"A SEVERED HEAD!" Amy bellowed in her thick, Tasmanian accent.

"What?" Beca called back, not understanding Amy's words. "Seven eggs?"

"NO!" Amy called back, clearly beyond distraught, as she pointed to the round object on the ground by her feet. "A SEVERED HUMAN HEAD!"

In a single, fluid motion, Beca jumped off the stage and ran over to where Amy was standing and screaming she pointed at the object on the ground by her feet. Beca squinted. What was that? What was Amy on about? What the-

"JESUS, FUCK!" Beca howled at the top of her lungs as realization set in over what her eyes were seeing, though her words could scarcely be heard over Amy's continued screams, as she scarcely paused for a breath. Beca covered her mouth, turning around to avoid staring at what was undoubtedly someone's detached head.

The nearby party-goers, including Flo, who was standing right next to Amy and Beca, stared at the object in abject horror, their hands covering their mouths.

"IT'S A HUMAN HEAD!" Amy roared dramatically to no one in particular, her head tipped back to the sky. "A HUMAN HEAD ROLLED DOWN THE STAIRS AND BOWLED ME OVER!"

"What. The. Hell," Beca exclaimed unevenly to herself as she continued trying to keep breathing and avoid fainting.

"A HUMAN HEAD, A HUMAN HEAD, A HUMAN HEAD!" Amy continued maniacally screaming like a broken record. Were it not for the fact that a human head, was in fact, lying at the base of the amphitheater and inches away from Amy's feet, Amy could have been rightfully compared to a toddler throwing a temper tantrum.

"Amy, Amy!" CR rushed in to quiet Amy, hugging her and dragging her away from the severed human head. Although she, herself was in total disbelief over the situation, someone needed to quiet down the hysteric Tasmanian before someone's eardrums popped.

"I'VE BEEN HIT BY A HUMAN HEAD!" Amy kept screaming, her face scrunching up.

"I KNOW THAT AND IF YOU SAY 'HUMAN HEAD' ONE MORE TIME, I'M GONNA PUNCH THE EVERLIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF YOU," CR yelled as she shook Amy by the shoulders, as to be heard over Amy's continued shrieking.

Cynthia Rose's tough love appeared to be enough to stop Amy from yelling about the human head, although her wordless wails could continue being heard as CR kindly, yet forcefully led the Tasmanian away from the party.

Meanwhile the chorus to the song kept playing,

Off, off with your head

Dance, dance 'til you're dead

Heads will roll

Heads will roll

Heads will roll

On the floor

Amy's screams grew more and more distant as CR dragged the girl farther away from the hood party and toward the Bella House.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," Chloe kept repeating endlessly as she ran her fingers through her bright red hair, trying and failing to tear her eyes away from the horrible sight before her.

At this point, the entire party was aware that a person's severed head had come rolling down the stairs of the amphitheater. About half of the crowd had placed the irony that a severed head had come rolling down the stairs of the amphitheater while "Heads Will Roll" was playing on the loudspeakers.

Beca, meanwhile, was practically hyperventilating, as she bent at her knees and hunched into the fetal position to keep from fainting. "There's so much blood!" Beca cried to no one as she sucked air rapidly in and out of her lungs. Indeed, a fine trail of blood lined the amphitheater stairs as the severed head hit every stair on its way to the bottom.

The next few minutes were a blur as someone, though Beca couldn't be sure who, exactly, identified the floating head as belonging to Casey Jody. Casey Jody, the newly inducted a-capella member, had just been decapitated and sent rolling down the amphitheater stairs as some sort of insane, senseless act.

Beca was unable to remember how she came to be sitting in the couch of the living room with the other Bella sisters, but sometime later, the party-goers had been removed from the scene when police arrived to investigate the unusual killing. The students had each been escorted back to their respective living corridors. Currently, the eight Bellas living in the house were present and accounted for, all sitting in the living room, each with transient looks on their faces.

"What... the fuck...was that?" Beca asked, the first one to break the silence.

"Well, erm, it was that new girl, what's her name... You know, the one who was weirdly obsessed with me..." Amy answered, trying to recall Casey's name.

"Casey?" Jessica supplied helpfully.

"Yeah!" Amy agreed. "Casey was rolling down each stair of the theater," Amy explained. "Thump, thump, thump," she said as she illustrated, her hand patting her leg with each 'thump.' "Well, uh, it wasn't Casey, exactly. It was her human head-"

"Amy!" A distressed CR cut in. "What have I told you about saying that?" For some reason, the term 'human head' was making CR feel sick to her stomach and she sincerely wished Amy would stop using it.

"Well, it was a human he- A, uh, person head," Amy corrected while CR buried her face in her hands and groaned.

"But why?" Beca asked. "Why would anybody want to kill her?"

"Love, jealousy, insanity," Stacie listed off on her fingers. "Who's to say?"

"I put my money on insanity," Lilly whispered intently. "This just feels... really insane."

"So we're looking at a serial killer?" Ashley asked.

"Damn it," Beca exclaimed before she realized the words had escaped her mouth. "I hate serial killers." Beca internally groaned. Did anyone like serial killers? The other girls looked at Beca oddly. "I mean, that...like really... sucks," Beca finished lamely.

"Sucks?" Chloe asked, her voice verging on the brink of a meltdown. "Spilling a cup of coffee sucks. Failing a test sucks. Getting decapitated by Barden's new resident serial killer is..." Chloe trailed off.

"You're right," Beca admitted, crossing her arms. "It's super upsetting."

Chloe widened her bright blue eyes at Beca. "It's a travesty!"

"Who do you think did it?" Lilly whispered. For the first time in a while, the entire gang heard Lilly's question. Many of them were asking the same thing themselves.

"Well, whoever it is," Amy responded ominously, "Something tells me they're just beginning."

"Great," CR threw her hands up, as she got up from her chair. "Now I won't sleep tonight. Thanks for that."

"I'm just being honest," Amy defended herself, "I really think that-"

"I don't care what you think," CR fired back. "You can think it in the morning when it's light outside."

"How does that really help?" Ashley asked.

"Because, someone's just been killed and it's nighttime, and we're all in really vulnerable places right now," Stacie came to CR's defense, her voice cracking as she metaphorically barreled straight ahead into meltdown city.

"I suddenly long for the simpler times of Bella boot camp," Ashley whined, hugging Jessica close to her.

"Woah, woah, woah," Beca yelled above the voice of the other Bellas, who were beginning to talk over one another. "Stop talking." Beca ordered. "Please," she added as a courtesy. The Bellas silenced, Beca's words having a strangely calming effect on the group of girls.

"Now listen up, here's what we're going to do," Beca continued after taking a deep breath. Fuck. What were they going to do? For some reason, the other seven faces were looking back at her hopefully. She needed to come up with a plan fast.

"Okay," Beca began again, buying herself several seconds of uncertainty while the cogs in her brain turned and Beca began pretending like she had any control over what was happening right now. "I'm going to double... triple check the doors and windows and make sure they're locked. Then, we're going to keep the lights on and we're going to have a slumber party here in the living room. We're going to watch cheesy rom-coms that I normally hate but it's okay because they're sappy and happy and we're then we're going to go to sleep. In the morning, we're going to reach out to the authorities and reassess our position. But right now, we're going to stick together and chill the fuck out. Okay?"

Seven heads nodded silently back at Beca. "Great. Hey, Chlo?" Beca asked.

Chloe said nothing for several seconds, as she was temporarily transfixed by Beca's sudden assumption of authority. She knew that circumstances were dire and she was flirting a thin line between being okay and being a human disaster, but Chloe couldn't help but feeling ever-so-slightly turned on by Beca's take-charge attitude.

"Chloe," Beca repeated, her eyes widening with concern over Chloe's sudden muteness. "Chlo, you okay?" Beca asked.

"Uh. Yeah. Fine," Chloe answered, snapping back to reality. "What's up?" She asked, hoping her cheeks weren't turning the pink color they felt like they were turning.

"Come check the doors and windows with me?" Beca asked.

"Love to," she responded. "I mean, yeah. Awes."

"Awes," Beca exhaled exasperatedly as she stood up from the couch. This was one hell of a night that she was not prepared to deal with.

As the two co-captains exited the living room to check the doors and windows, Chloe leaned over and whispered, "I told you that you'd be a total natural at this 'captain' thing, Becs."

Beca looked over and met Chloe's gaze. "Shame I had to find out this way."

"Yeah," Chloe agreed, biting her bottom lip. "I know. And I can't help but feeling that text message you got is somehow related to this," Chloe admitted in a small voice.

Beca sighed deeply. "I think that, too. And it scares the shit out of me if I'm being honest."

Chloe teared up, swallowing the lump in her throat. Someone died today. A human. With a soul and a bright life ahead of her. And Chloe had a horrible feeling that these events were far from over. And Beca, her Beca, was somehow tied up in it. Chloe took a deep breath to keep from losing it.

"We can handle this, right?" Chloe asked Beca, her light blue eyes looking to Beca desperately for confirmation.

"Think so," Beca answered with a nod of her head and a small quirk of a smile.

Chloe nodded. "I really think handling the worst gives us perspective on the strength we're capable of."

Beca's jaw clenched. "You're lucky you're that pretty."

Chloe was glad Beca couldn't see her face at the moment, as her cheeks were blushing and she was biting back a giddy grin. Chloe's heart skipped a beat. Beca thought she was pretty. Chloe's stomach swirled around with nervous energy. Beca called her pretty.

"Because your insane optimism is really annoying," Beca added.

There it is, Chloe thought with amusement. She knew Beca wasn't going to give her a compliment like that without throwing in some sort of dig. But Beca was right. Chloe was insanely optimistic. Which is why Chloe chose to focus on Beca's former comment while she reached out and grabbed Beca's hand, interlacing their fingers together. Beca didn't pull away, but rather, squeezed Chloe's hand back. The two girls finished their job of locking up, hand in hand.


	2. Chapter 2- Barbie Girl

CHAPTER 2: BARBIE GIRL

"Wow!" Gail exclaimed in her overly peppy newscaster tone, turning to the camera as she broke the fourth wall. "This is interesting. This... isn't something you see every day on an... a-capella documentary!" She continued, clearly overjoyed at the fact that last night's disaster had inadvertently panned out so well for their documentary.

 

"A girl lost her head last night," John announced importantly, before bringing his hand to his forehead in shock. "Not in the way that all girls 'lose their heads,' but in the actual, literal sense, Gail."

 

"Lost her head?" Gail reacted with a sharp laugh. "We know exactly where it went! It went rolling straight into a Barden Bella who calls herself Fat Amy," she corrected.

 

"It rolled her over like a bowling ball into a bowling pin," John agreed with a shake of his head, feigning the professional level of sympathy that is required over these matters.

 

"It's a shame," Gail observed with a small frown, trying to match John's level of fake sympathy.

 

"A shame that must be investigated."

 

"That's absolutely right, John," Gail agreed. Turning to the camera, Gail continued, "Rest assured, viewers out there, we are fully committed and dedicated to reporting every minute of this horrible disaster. The truth is out there and we're going to find it."

 

"This documentary that we call 'Pitch Perfect,'" John emphasized with air quotes, "From here on out is an investigative documentary dedicated to going balls deep into this gruesome turn of events."

 

From across the quad, Beca eyed the pair of wacky commentators warily. To say that she had experienced a sleepless night was an understatement. The last thing she wanted to see right now was this bumbling pair of inept reporters further blowing matters out of proportion.

 

"Aren't documentaries supposed to... I don't know, not feature the filmmakers?" Beca asked to Chloe. Beca was all but certain that the authors of documentaries weren't supposed to feature themselves in their films.

 

Chloe, who was standing next to Beca, chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. Chloe, too, was operating on no sleep.

 

"I think you're right," Chloe answered.

 

Before either girl could ponder the matter in more depth, Amy came ambling out of the administration office and over to the other Bellas. Earlier that morning, several police officers arrived to the Bella house and brought the girls to the Barden administrative office to collect further information. The morning had consisted of an unpleasant probing and rehashing of the prior night's occurrences. The girls were asked questions until their ears practicably bled. Beca had turned her phone over to the police, hoping it might create a lead to the monster responsible for the murder. The consequential result of this action meant that Beca would be without a cell phone for the foreseeable future. After hours of the pleasantries, the police had collected enough information and had excused the girls.

 

"That was like an enema to the brain," Amy complained loudly.

 

Apart from poor Casey Jody, who was no longer a Bella for obvious reasons, Tina had fled from the Bellas without batting an eyelash. No one could blame her, of course. Beca swore she would have left too, had she not already been so ingrained with this ragtag team of lovable weirdos. In fact, Beca kind of questioned why Flo didn't leave. Did she not have any sense? Or worse, did she know something about what happened with Casey and- No. Beca shut herself down. She wasn't going to start playing 'witch hunt.' That couldn’t happen.

 

"In my country, we are used to these things. Once, my cousin went to jail for five years because someone saw him steal my uncle’s friend’s sister’s grandmother’s chicken.”

 

The other Bellas stared in various directions, trying to mentally work out Flo’s statement.

 

“But this is worse,” she corrected with a shrug.

 

“Ladies, it’s been a tough morning,” Chloe interrupted soothingly, “Why don’t you all head back to the house and I’ll gmake us breakfast.”

 

“I can’t believe I’m saying this Red, that’s actually one smart idea you’ve had,” Amy pointed out.

 

The girls agreed that they were rather hungry and headed back to the Bella house. Several minutes passed in silence, while each girl reeled over the events from the past several days

 

“Chloe?” Beca whispered over to her co-captain as the nine Bellas began walking back to the Bella house.

 

“Hm?” Chloe hummed.

 

“Where were you last night, you know, before the… murder?” Beca asked awkwardly.

 

“At the party, of course,” Chloe answered with ease.

 

“Uh huh. And that’s what you told the police?”

 

“It’s the truth, so yes, that’s what I told the police.” Chloe’s smile grew a little wider as she desperately tried to hide the internal wave of grief that was brimming below her surface.

 

Beca couldn’t continue her line of questioning because suddenly and without warning, Beca heard a voice from right behind her and Chloe.

 

“Walking in front of us are Barden Bella front-women Beca Mitchell and Chloe Beale,” Gail explained excitedly, struggling to keep stride with the pair in her high heels.

 

“What do we do?” Chloe leaned over and whispered in Beca’s ear, not daring to look back and acknowledge the pesky reporters.

 

“Keep walking,” Beca whispered back under her breath.

 

“These young women must be reeling after the loss of their new Bella sister,” John continued.

 

“Dude, we can hear you,” Beca confronted the pair, turning around to face them while not breaking her stride.

 

“Oh, well that’s great!” Gail responded in cheerful disbelief over her luck. “Maybe you can tell us what happened last night from your perspective.”

 

“I think everyone’s perspective is the same,” Beca answered plainly. “An innocent person was murdered.”

 

“Murdered?” John asked with intrigue. “Do we know this for a fact?”

 

“Well it sure as hell wasn’t a suicide, was it?” Beca asked bitingly.

 

“Well, technically the autopsy hasn’t come back yet, so who’s to know?” Gail countered, waggling her head back and forth.

 

Beca’s eyes widened as she kept walking. Were these people really that fucking dumb?

 

“She was decapitated,” Chloe spelled it out for Gail and John simply and plainly, with all of her normal poise and politeness, but with none of her warmth. Decapitation was simply not a method by which to commit suicide.

 

“Yes, she sure was,” John agreed. “Write that down, Gail. We need that in writing in case we’re asked about it later.”

 

“Right, of course,” Gail scrambled to get a notepad out of her pocket while simultaneously filming the exchange and keeping stride with Beca and Chloe. “How do you spell that word? D-E-K…” Gail asked with some hesitation.

 

“Never mind, you’re a woman,” John changed his mind with a wave of his hand. “Of course you can’t spell.”

 

“John, you sexist pig,” Gail muttered with peppy cheer.

 

“One more question, ladies?” John asked Beca and Chloe, consciously ignoring Gail. When he was met with no response, he asked, “Who do you think could be responsible for such a horrible crime, that will always be remembered around the world with infamy?”

 

Beca scoffed. “Maybe ask the new a-capella group on campus.”

 

“So you’re blaming the new a-capella group, Evermoist?” Gail asked, hoping Beca would clarify and give her the affirmative answer she desperately craved. Pinning Evermoist to this crime would do wonders for the documentary’s ratings.

 

“Jesus Christ, fuck off!” Beca turned around and practically screamed in Gail’s face.

 

Gail and John each jumped back, taken aback by Beca’s outburst. Gail dropped her microphone a little while John widened his eyes and mouthed ‘wow,’ in such a way that implied he thought Beca was a stereotypical, hysterical woman.

 

Chloe stepped in, physically placing herself between Beca and the reporters. “Guys, it’s been a long couple of days,” Chloe explained with an ungodly amount of calm and patience. “We’re all hurting right now, and really, I think we just need some space. I’m sorry,” she finished, grabbing Beca’s arm firmly, but with care.

 

“Thanks,” Beca whispered to Chloe as the girls left the two reporters in the distance and collectively made their way back to the Bella house. “Thanks for, you know, being calm and having it all together… Cuz I’m kind of… I don’t know…”

 

“There’s an unspoken rule among co-captains,” Chloe replied warmly as she linked arms with Beca. To her delight, Beca didn’t shake Chloe off, but instead, continued walking in stride with their arms linked. “Only one of us can freak out at a time.”

 

“Is that right?” Beca asked, cutting her gaze over to Chloe. Beca felt a little uncomfortable as she met Chloe’s piercing blue eyes, staring directly into her eyes. They were so… blue.

 

“Totes,” Chloe affirmed with a nod. “We’ve got each other’s backs.”

 

Beca’s tense body relaxed and her lips formed a momentary grin. Something about Chloe’s statement was incredibly reassuring. The Bellas were all out of breath by the time they arrived back at the house, much thanks to Gail and John. By far, these were the most irritating people alive, Beca decided. And this was coming from a girl who was consistently irritated by most of the population. Once all nine girls were inside the house, Beca slammed the door behind her, effectively shutting Gail and John out of their lives... for now, at least.

 

"Should've taken that cardio more seriously," Amy panted, lying down on the floor to catch her breath.

 

Chloe clicked her tongue. "I'll remind you of this next week when we begin Bella practice, Ames."

 

"Seriously though, are they allowed to stalk us like this?" Beca asked.

 

"I doubt it. But I also doubt they're smart enough to know better," Jessica answered.

 

Meanwhile, Lilly mumbled something unintelligible while the gang caught their breaths from their morning jaunt across campus. After several minutes of silence, Chloe stood up and walked into the kitchen. Calling out over her shoulder, she promised the girls that breakfast would be prepared within the next few minutes.

 

Beca smiled. Having Chloe around was like having your mom live with you. Well, the nice aspects of your mom, that was. Not the nagging to 'clean your room because grandma is coming next week,' or to 'stop leaving your shoes in the living room because everyone is tripping over them.' No, having Chloe around was always having pancakes on Saturday mornings and cute little notes in your lunchbox (which, by the way, was something that Chloe always packed). Beca couldn't imagine what would have happened to the Bellas without Chloe. These past several days had been trying on the gang, to say the least. And Chloe... and Beca, too, she supposed, were the glue holding it all together. Perfect teammates.

 

Beca instinctively decided to be a good teammate and lend Chloe a hand in the kitchen. Beca was surprised with the sight before her as she entered the room. Standing in front of Beca was a frazzled Chloe, juggling five different tasks and neglecting at least one of them. The unpleasant scent of burned batter wafted thickly through the kitchen.

 

"Need a hand?" Beca asked with some hesitation. Chloe looked on the verge of insanity.

 

Smiling a little too cheerfully, Chloe answered, "Nope, it's all under control!"

 

"So you're serving us burning pancakes... on purpose?" Beca questioned wryly.

 

Chloe whipped her head around to the pancakes on the stovetop, which were, in fact, singed. "Crap!" Chloe rushed to prevent the imminently probable fire.

 

"Here, let me at least set the table," Beca offered, though the tone of her offer made it clear that Beca wasn't going to accept any answer apart from 'yes.'

 

Chloe meanwhile, had taken care of the burning pancakes and was starting freshly anew with a second batch. In addition to mixing the pancake batter, Chloe plastered a forced smile on her face and absentmindedly began humming.

 

As Beca placed the plates on the table, she took a moment to glance up at Chloe, watching the older girl furiously mix pancake batter while wearing the joyful markings of an insane person. "Chloe?" Beca asked.

 

Chloe snapped out of her humming trance, casting a glance over to Beca. "Yes?"

 

"You're not okay, are you?" Beca asked by way of observation. Chloe had been trying extraordinarily hard all morning to seem okay, even though Beca could tell Chloe was not.

 

"I'm as okay as a person could be in these circumstances," Chloe answered cavalierly.

 

"Want to know why I know for a fact that you're not?"

 

Chloe raised her eyebrows in response, not dignifying Beca's rhetorical question with any verbal answer.

 

"First, you're doing that whole 'smiling in the face of disaster' thing again. Second, you were humming 'Bittersweet Symphony' just now," Beca explained matter-of-factly.

 

"Was I? Why does that... That doesn't mean..." Chloe stammered.

 

Beca, who was now finished setting the table, walked casually across the kitchen until she was standing next to Chloe. Taking the mixing bowl from Chloe's hands, Beca began taking the reigns on the breakfast preparation. Chloe had nothing to do other than watch Beca in her element, expertly flipping the pancakes on the griddle.

 

Neither girl said anything for the longest time. Beca continued making breakfast and Chloe watched Beca with amazement, taking her bottom lip between her teeth. How did Beca do this? Read her this well? No one else was fooled by Chloe's false positivity. Only Beca had read straight through the bullshit with ease.

 

When Beca was finished cooking up the pancakes, eggs, and bacon, she yelled across the house for the other Bellas. Turning to face Chloe, Beca spoke barely above a whisper when she asked, "You know that rule of yours where only one of us can freak out at a time?"

 

Chloe nodded as she stared wide-eyed at Beca.

 

"You should freak out if you need to. I'll be okay enough for the both of us, I promise," Beca offered genuinely, meeting Chloe's gaze.

 

Chloe's heart leapt at Beca's words, her heart growing even more with adoration for the younger girl, if that was even possible. "Thanks Becs, I lo-"

 

Chloe's sentiment was interrupted by Amy's brash entrance into the kitchen. "Thank God, I haven't been able to eat in hours. This morning was like a fast... Hey," Amy mumbled mostly to herself. "Breakfast. Break. Fast," she continued, emphasizing the syllables. "It's called breakfast because you break the fast."

 

Beca's lips tugged into an amused smile as she departed her gaze from Chloe and joined Amy at the kitchen table. By this point, the other Bellas were beginning to filter into the kitchen as well.

 

The girls sat down to the beautifully prepared Sunday morning breakfast and conversation began flowing easily among them. It was almost as if this past weekend hadn't happened. Only, unfortunately, it had. This unfortunate reminder came all too suddenly when the girls heard a loud, pounding knock on their front door. As Beca was almost finished eating her breakfast anyhow, she offered to get the door.

 

“Knock, knock.” A strangely familiar voice called from the other side of the thick wooden door.

 

Beca opened the door to the familiar face of her own father. Standing next to her father was an unfamiliar woman. She was tall, blonde, and threatening, as she loomed over Beca, an evil smirk gracing her face. Beca was momentarily disarmed by this tall, scary looking blonde woman and didn’t offer the customary niceties or greetings that people offer when receiving visitors. Beca’s dad and the blonde woman took Beca’s silence as invitation to enter the house.

 

Chipper as ever, Mr. Mitchell continued, patting Beca on the head. “Beca Bear, I’ve been all tied up this morning with the investigation but needed to come over and see my little girl.”

 

Beca groaned, rubbing her palm into her forehead. Beca hopes that none of the other Bellas had witnessed this embarrassing exchange were shattered when she heard indiscreet snickers coming from behind her back. Beca turned around to face the other Bellas, who were now all standing in the foyer. Great.

 

“Okay,” Beca began, finally addressing her father for the first time, “Although, admittedly, I don’t have much dignity, let’s remember that I’m almost twenty.”

 

Mr. Mitchell responded obliviously to Beca, ignoring her subtle pleas for him to stop addressing her like a five year old child. “You’ll always be my little girl. I’ve been worried sick about you.”

 

“Let’s not… can we?” Beca asked dryly, acutely aware that her badass reputation was plummeting by the second. Her father was effectively killing any iota of coolness she had left at this point.

 

“Beca, this is a serious matter,” Mr. Mitchell replied sternly. “Someone died last night and we need to ensure that all of you are safe from any potential harm.”

 

“There’s more potential harm?” Beca asked with shock, panicked since the first time her father had stepped foot in the house.

 

Beca’s father sighed. “Well, we can’t rule anything out right now,” he answered honestly.

 

“Fuck,” Beca barked sharply, without thinking.

 

Frowning, Mr. Mitchell scolded, “Language, young lady… And just, be careful okay?”

 

“That’s what you came over here to tell me?” Beca scoffed.

 

“That, and in light of everything, I’ve been appointed Interim Dean of Barden. So I’ll be taking a much more active role in responding to campus safety around here.”

 

“I feel loads safer already,” Beca rolled her eyes as she responded with sarcasm.

 

“You should, because I’ve also assigned a campus security guard who will be closely watching you girls,” Mr. Mitchell answered, choosing to ignore his daughter’s sarcasm.

 

“What’s that?” Amy asked with curiosity.

 

“It’s a police officer who works for the campus and-” Mr. Mitchell began answering.

 

“Dad, she knows what a security guard is. She’s from Tasmania, not Mars.”

 

Beca’s dad sighed with exasperation. “I was just answering her question.”

 

“Yeah, I meant why do we need a security guard, not what is one,” Amy clarified with hesitation.

 

“Ahhhh. Okay, well. With one of your sisters, um, no longer alive, we need to protect each of you. Which is why I have the lovely Ms. Kommissar here with me,” Mr. Mitchell motioned to the tall, scary lady standing next to him.

 

“Kommissar?” Beca asked. “Are we sure this is a real security guard?” Surely that couldn’t be a real name.

 

“Of course she’s a real bodyguard,” Mr. Mitchell answered, straightening his necktie and chuckling nervously. “She was voted best campus security guard in 1996. That’s what the Yellow Pages say, right Ms. Kommissar?”

 

Ms. Kommissar grinned, nodding her head in agreement. The Bellas muttered and exchanged looks of concern among themselves. Something about this situation seemed very, very wrong. Who used the Yellow Pages anymore? And who advertised the quality of their services from 1996? I mean, that was years ago. And how old was this woman, anyway? She certainly did not seem to be old enough to have been a bodyguard back in 1996.

 

“Dad. Please don’t tell me you found this woman, who apparently is going to be guarding our lives, in the Yellow Pages?” Beca pleaded to her father, while her insides filled with utter dread.

 

“I did!” Beca’s dad answered with ignorant enthusiasm. “Lucky for me, I struck gold on the first listed security guard in the book. I mean, who else can brag about being the best body guard from 1996?”

 

“Presumably no one,” Stacie muttered, looking at the ground. She didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that there could only be one ‘best.’ Stacie also seriously doubted the veracity of Ms. Kommissar’s claims.

 

“So, everyone, say hello to Ms. Kommissar, security guard and CEO of ‘Das Leibwächter.’ In English, it translates into ‘the bodyguard,’” Beca’s dad finished triumphantly.

 

“Hello, little mice,” Kommissar addressed, curling her lips into an evil smirk as she slowly spread her gaze around the room, making eye contact with each of the nine women. Beca couldn’t help but notice the distinct markings of a German accent.

 

“You’ve gotta be effing kidding me,” Beca muttered to no one in particular.

 

“Ah, but no. I do not kid. I just watch little kids, such as yourself.”

 

“Don’t let my size fool you, I’m almost twenty,” Beca answered, standing her ground.

 

“Is that so, tiny mouse?” Kommissar asked, crossing her arms and taking a step closer to Beca, her gaze boring holes into Beca.

 

“Yeah,” Beca replied with false confidence. “And we don’t need your services, so thank you, but you can be on your way.”

 

“Such a feisty mouse!” Kommissar barked with laughter, taking another step closer to Beca.

 

“Well you… smell really good.” Beca finished lamely. Dammit! This scary, albeit attractive, German woman was really throwing Beca off her game.

 

The corners of Kommissar’s lips tugged into a smile, as she bared her teeth to Beca. Beca swallowed hard, trying to remain stoic.

 

Mr. Mitchell sighed with exasperation. He knew his daughter could be difficult at times, especially when it came to authority figures. “Beca, listen to her. She’s going to report back to me if so much as your toe falls out of line. She’s going to lock the doors each evening at nine and unlock them in the morning at seven.”

 

“This is like a prison,” Amy pointed out, the other girls murmuring and nodding in agreement.

 

“In my country, this is still a paradise,” Flo considered hesitantly. After nervously glancing around the room and gauging the outrage her Bella sisters shared, Flo back-peddled, “But yes, this is also bad.”

 

“What if I say no?” Beca asked simply, cutting to the chase.

 

“Then the Bellas will be forced to disband. It’s up to you, Beca. I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

 

Beca looked around the room at the other girls. They were all looking back at Beca expectantly. They looked so… nervous… yet hopeful. Beca sighed with defeat. These girls needed each other. Somehow, these weirdos had all become some kind of twisted family. And Beca couldn’t disband the Bellas, especially over the matter of her own pride. She would just have to live with the damn bodyguard breathing down her neck.

 

“Fine,” Beca seethed with resentment.

 

“Smart choice, young lady,” Beca’s father applauded as he backed his way out of the Bella house. “You’re in safe hands with Ms. Kommissar.”

 

The week passed rather uneventfully, much to Beca's relief. Thanks to Beca's dad, the Bellas were now attending all of the same classes, which meant that generally, they all kept the same schedules. Bella practices still occurred on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings and the personalities in the house were all cohesive. Aside from the minor annoyances associated with the constant sisterhood, things were operating smoothly. Well, that was, aside from the German prison warden who showed up at the house each night to check curfew at 9:00 PM. By the time Friday evening rolled around, the girls were restless and utterly stir crazy.

 

"I literally need to see anybody else's face tonight," Stacie complained at dinner. Sitting around the dinner table were the other eight Bellas.

 

"What's wrong with us?" Flo asked with offense.

 

"I can't do any of you," Stacie explained, like it was the most obvious observation in the world.

 

CR cleared her throat. "There are at least several of us sitting at this table who you could bang."

 

Stacie raised her eyebrows. "Really wanna go there again?" Stacie asked CR.

 

The two had hooked up at the end of their freshman year and things hadn't gone well, to say the least. Both girls mutually agreed to call a spade a spade and leave that night behind them. Their relationship was now strictly platonic.

 

"No, you're right," CR agreed. "But there's still Chloe and..." CR trailed off with embarrassment, suddenly realizing she couldn't finish her sentence. CR knew with veracity that Chloe swung both ways. That was no secret. Chloe would happily tell anyone. Beca, however, was an enigma. Even though CR all but knew that Beca dug ladies, CR didn't know if Beca knew the same about herself.

 

"And?" Amy asked with intense curiosity, leaning her elbows on the table.

 

"And, they're the only two others. No one else," Stacie supplied, shooting CR a warning glare across the table.

 

CR and Stacie had discussed the Beca and Chloe thing before. They both shared the same thoughts- Beca and Chloe were in love but maybe didn't know it just yet. The last thing that anyone needed to do was alert Amy to this suspicion. Amy would tease Beca relentlessly... more relentlessly than she already teased her about the whole 'Bloe' thing.

 

Amy clicked her tongue as the cogs in her brain turned. "Three out of nine. That's a third of us who eat the taco."

 

CR scrunched her face and exchanged glances with Stacie.

 

"Five out of nine," Ashley corrected.

 

"Huh?" Stacie asked.

 

"Five out of nine," Jessica agreed. "We're dating," she added, motioning between her and Ashley proudly.

 

"No shit?" Beca commented with a genuine grin. She was unable to contain her curiosity.

 

"Yep, since the ICCA's last year," Ashley affirmed as she reached next to her and grabbed Jessica's hand.

 

"Well, damn, I never knew," CR admitted. Normally, her gaydar was on point.

 

"Me either," the rest of the table mumbled, suddenly feeling a little bad that Jessica and Ashley went so unnoticed in the group.

 

"Congrats, ladies!" Chloe exclaimed warmly with a grin. "You guys are a totes adorable couple. I'm so happy for you!"

 

She did look happy, Beca mused. Chloe looked insanely happy.

 

"Wow," Amy mused. "So a-capella is like the gayest thing ever."

 

"Pretty much," Chloe agreed with a nod of her head.

 

"We do make music, all from our mouths," Beca offered with sarcasm. "So we can't really be surprised, can we, Ame?" Beca asked, her lips twitching upward momentarily.

 

Amy turned on Beca. Stacie and CR exchanged another glance as each girl widened their eyes in anticipation. Amy was going to make Beca eat those words. Whatever Amy was about to say, well, it was going to be good.

 

"Ah, Shortstack, so young. So naïve." Amy answered deliberately and shaking her head with mock disappointment.

 

"Why is that?" Beca asked, narrowing her eyes at Amy.

 

Stacie and CR collectively groaned. Beca was walking right into this trap without a clue.

 

"You and Chloe over there," Amy continued matter-of-factly. "Together you're 'Bloe.' I-"

 

"Ahhhhhhh kay," Beca interrupted, pressing Amy to stop. "We've heard enough. I'm not doing this with you today." Beca was more than exhausted by Amy's 'Bloe' antics.

 

Amy sighed heavily. "All I'm saying is..." Amy trailed off and held out two fingers on each hand like scissors and pressed them together into the crevices.

 

"Dude, this is insanely inappropriate!" Beca practically spat.

 

"It's clam-slamming," Amy offered with a clueless grin, oblivious to Beca's discomfort.

 

Chloe giggled, unable to hide her amusement over the situation.

 

"This is funny to you?" Beca turned on Chloe.

 

Chloe shrugged. "You're only reinforcing her, Chloe," Beca warned. "She's gonna start thinking that we're actually..." Beca paused, unable to overcome the mental roadblock created by saying that word.

 

"Clam-slamming?" Amy supplied.

 

"Yes," Beca answered through gritted teeth.

 

"Well, if the flannel shirt fits..." Amy shrugged.

 

"I swear to God, Amy, I'm gonna lose my shit if-" Beca began before Chloe interrupted.

 

"Stacie's right!" Chloe yelled abruptly to the table, ending Beca and Amy's moment. "We need to get out of here. See some other people."

 

"Thank you," Stacie groaned indignantly.

 

"Isn't that going to be made difficult by the scary German lady?" Flo asked with caution.

 

The girls considered Flo's question and nodded. Flo was right, the group decided. Whatever antics would occur this Friday needed to remain hidden from Kommissar.

 

"I think we can outsmart her," Chloe considered, chewing on her bottom lip while her eyes became agleam with inspiration.

 

"I have an idea," Lilly offered with a whisper.

 

"Yeah?" Beca asked excitedly, forgetting her former irritation with Amy.

 

"The basement," Lilly whispered. "The basement door is always open."

 

"Wait, what?" CR asked, sitting back in her chair as her eyes widened. "You're trying to tell us that the whole time we've been living here, the motherfucking basement door has been open to anyone?"

 

Lilly nodded, saying nothing.

 

"Well, it's a good thing that last week was a seemingly isolated incident and this isn't some kind of fictional story where that piece of information is somehow going to come back to haunt us later on," Amy observed.

 

Everyone blinked a few times and pursed their lips together in silence. This statement would have been odd foreshadowing if anyone at the table had the foresight to know what the future held.

 

"Anyhow," Stacie redirected, "We'll wait for the hot German lady to do her 'flirt with Beca' bit and lock us in. Then we sneak out and... what?"

 

Beca rolled her eyes, desperately trying to hide the blush that was appearing on her cheeks. Unfortunately, Stacie’s statement held truth. Kommissar and Beca had a very strange flirty hate simmering. Mostly, Kommissar would insult Beca, Beca would become flustered, and then Kommissar would grin with an evil triumph.

 

Chloe pressed her lips together. She too, had noticed Kommissar’s strange bit with Beca. Not wanting to give anyone the opportunity to further discuss Kommissar's special relationship with Beca, Chloe chimed in. "There's a Treble party tonight. We could do that."

 

"Chloe's right," Beca agreed quickly, also wanting to avoid discussing Kommissar. "Jesse told me about it earlier today."

 

"So... we're really doing this?" Flo asked.

 

Everyone shrugged in agreement.

 

"Alright, this is gonna be awesome!" Flo exclaimed excitedly.

 

Sneaking out of the house turned out to be much easier than any of the girls anticipated. Kommissar did her normal round at 9 PM sharp, offered a few thinly veiled insults at Beca, locked up the house, and left. The girls quickly got ready for the party and by 11 PM, were filing out of the basement door like a line of ants. With each girl wearing dark colors, they went completely unnoticed as they crept down the street and to the Treble house.

 

"I'm so glad we're doing this. I really think tonight is gonna be just what we need to put last week behind us," Chloe affirmed excitedly to Beca, linking their arms together.

 

"Yeah, I think we all need to have some fun," Beca answered.

 

"Totes. I can't wait for you and me to tear it up on the dance floor!" Chloe beamed.

 

"Just don't lose your shoes this time, okay?" Beca joked with emptiness.

 

Beca was referencing a time during their freshman year when Chloe had snuck Beca into a bar. The two had ended up drinking a little too much and Chloe had lost her shoes. Not wanting Chloe to get athlete’s foot or MERSA, Beca had piggybacked Chloe out of the bar and into a cab. Chloe, meanwhile, had taken that opportunity to thereafter insist that Beca should piggyback her everywhere from then on. Beca, true to form, would always pretend to be annoyed, even though she thought it was kind of cute that Chloe would sometimes latch herself onto Beca, begging Beca to piggyback her around.

 

"The man at the bar told me he'd hold them for me." Chloe explained with innocence.

 

"Oh, sweetie." Beca clenched her teeth together.

 

Chloe shrugged. "Well, at least it's better than that time I lost my shirt."

 

"I don't wanna hear this story, right?"

 

Completely ignoring Beca, Chloe began telling the story. "I was a sophomore in college."

 

"Here we go," Beca muttered, mostly to herself as she rolled her eyes.

 

"And there was this really hot girl," Chloe continued on, choosing to ignore Beca for a second time.

 

"Ah. I've heard more than enough," Beca attempted to cut Chloe off. Beca really didn’t need or want to hear about Chloe’s conquests.

 

Chloe tilted her head as she considered her former statement with some pause. "Not as hot as you, of course."

 

"Wait. What?"

 

"Yeah, you're super bangable,” Chloe admitted with ease, as if it were the most obvious statement in the world. “I've always thought that you'd be really great in the sack."

 

Beca’s jaw dropped open as her mind reeled for words. Her heart was thudding loudly against her chest and she felt a strange pool of feelings wash across her body. "This is...I... I..."

 

"Beca!" Jesse yelled from across the field. The girls had nearly arrived at the Treble house.

 

"Oh, thank God," Beca exhaled with total relief, freeing herself from Chloe’s grip. Beca had just been saved from the bell, so to speak.

 

Beca ran the remaining distance until she was standing at the front doorway of the Treble house. Jesse pulled Beca into a hug. Uncharacteristically, Beca hugged him back. Maybe it was because Beca had just spent the last week locked in a prison with eight other ladies and a weird bodyguard. Maybe it was because a college student had been recently killed and Beca was feeling vulnerable. Who was to say?

 

When they finally broke apart, Jesse led Beca into the house, which was already filled to the brim with partygoers. Nothing brought out a party like grieving the dead, Beca thought to herself darkly. Seriously, was every single a-capella student in the world present at this party? As the music blared loudly through every hallway, Beca took several moments to look around. Spinning in a full circle, Beca easily identified every a-capella group- the High Notes, the BU Harmonics, the Treblemakers, the Bellas. They were all here, laughing, drinking, singing, and partying. Almost as if everything was normal.

 

But nothing was normal. Someone had died. Right? Could anything ever go back to the way it was? Would things ever really be okay again? Beca frowned, disturbed by the apparent ease in which everyone could forget someone’s death and party like nothing had ever happened.

 

"Do you think this is gonna help?" Beca asked thoughtfully, looking around the living room.

 

"Probably not," Jesse admitted. "But it's nice to take a night away from it all."

 

Beca nodded, accepting Jesse’s conclusion as true. "Yeah, we should be moving on I guess... I mean, we kind of have to clear our heads, right?" Beca asked rhetorically.

 

"Heh heh," Jesse giggled immaturely. "You said head.'"

 

"For fuck's sake," Beca groaned, stifling a laugh.

 

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I make jokes when I'm uncomfortable. Or I laugh. It's not funny... it's a compulsion."

 

"I know," Beca confirmed, with a nod of her head. "You laughed the entire way through my great aunt's funeral."

 

"You noticed that?"

 

"Kind of hard not to," Beca pointed out with a smirk.

 

This summer, Beca's ninety-seven year old Aunt Ruth had passed away. Beca dragged Jesse with her to the funeral, which consisted of mostly senile people standing around and paying homage to Great Aunt Ruth. While the minister read solemnly from his bible, weeping could be heard throughout the church. Jesse, meanwhile, experienced a fit of coughing, which forced him to leave the church and meet Beca after the service had ended. As it happened, Jesse was coughing to stifle the laughter he felt over this uncomfortable situation. He figured the laughter had gone unnoticed... until now, that was.

 

"Right, well I'll try to reel it in," Jesse promised.

 

"Try to keep your head on," Beca demanded evenly, a faint twitch of a smile pulling at her lips as she studied Jesse's face intently, waiting for it to break.

 

"Dude!" Jesse exploded with laughter as Beca's face broke into a grin. "I'm laughing my head off!"

 

"You guys are so messed up," Calamity observed dully as she joined the conversation.

 

"Who told you about this party?" Beca asked, sobering up from her laughter rather quickly.

 

"Didn't know you cared so much about my presence here," Calamity fired back evenly.

 

"I didn't... don't. I don't."

 

"Right." Calamity raised her eyebrows, smirking. "Your face says otherwise."

 

"That's my resting bitch face," Beca offered a tight-lipped smile, turning around to leave the conversation.

 

"So it has nothing to do with that chat you had earlier with those weird reporters?" Calamity challenged, causing Beca to stop dead in her tracks.

 

"That's also a factor," Beca admitted.

 

"So you think I'm a murderer?" She asked with an evil grin.

 

"It wouldn't exactly surprise me."

 

"I'm full of surprises," Calamity whispered, inching closer to a nervous Beca. Leaning into Beca's ear, Calamity whispered, "Maybe later I'll even show you one or two."

 

Beca swallowed nervously. What the fuck was happening? Why did she feel this way?

 

"You're definitely not a murderer," Jesse cut in, cluelessly killing the rising tension between the girls. "I'm sure of it."

 

"Oh yeah, how's that?" Beca asked a little too loudly, trying to regain her normal breathing patterns.

 

"There are three rules to every modern horror movie," Jesse answered while Beca rolled her eyes. Jesse. With the bit about the horror movies again.

 

"Big fan of ‘Scream?’" Calamity asked with a grin.

 

"Yes, but these are different rules than from ‘Scream,’" he explained. "These are the new rules."

 

"New rules?" Amy asked, appearing out of nowhere to join the conversation.

 

"That's right. Settle in folks, because we're about to begin Modern Horror Movies, 101,” Jesse announced.

 

"There are distinct and exacting rules to every modern horror film," Jesse instructed to the captive audience. By this point, a sizable crowd was listening to Beca and Jesse's exchange and the attention was inflating Jesse's ego.

 

"Rule number one, the killer. The killer is never who you most suspect... It's also never who you least suspect. It's the person you medium suspect," Jesse instructed while Beca looked on with bemusement.

 

"The killer in a horror movie is always lurking around in the background of any murder," he continued importantly, "Always at or nearby the scene of the crime. It's never the weird and suspicious cousin who was released from prison and came unannounced to your birthday party. That would be too obvious. Wouldn't make for an exciting movie. Similarly, it's not the nameless extra in the background who has zero dialogue throughout the film. It's too... cheap. Not satisfying."

 

"Gotcha. So you're having me believe that we shouldn't suspect Evermoist right now?" Beca asked.

 

"I still suspect them," Amy admitted.

 

"But maybe you shouldn't," Jesse pointed out. "They fall into the 'obvious' category. It's too weird that they randomly showed up to Barden this year and somehow all enrolled in university classes, even though they seem too old to be freshman in college."

 

"Right. Totally too obvious," Calamity agreed slyly.

 

"See?" Beca asked indignantly. "We're falling into a trap. This is exactly what they'd want us to think. They're the obvious suspect, which makes them not the obvious suspect, which, logically, then means we should suspect them again."

 

Everyone scratched their heads and tried to follow Beca's reasoning.

 

"Maybe," Jesse agreed with a shrug. "Just because it hasn't been done in a movie doesn't mean it can't be done. There's something intriguing about hiding in plain sight like that, I guess."

 

"Whatever, you guys are losers," Calamity retaliated.

 

"Just looking out for lives here," Jesse fired back good-naturedly. "Anyone want to hear rule number two?" He asked to the ever-growing crowd.

 

"Me, me!" Amy yelled, jumping up and down. She was very invested by this point.

 

"Alright!" Jesse continued with a wide grin. "Rule number two, those who get killed. Sex, drugs, and rock n' roll are breeding grounds for murders, if and only if, you're reckless."

 

"Well isn't it really fucking problematic we're at a party right now?" Beca asked. "All three of those things are actually happening here right now."

 

"Well, yeah, it's a risk for sure," Jesse answered thoughtfully, " But as long as you don't wander off, you're probably safe."

 

"Says who?" CR asked skeptically.

 

"Says slasher fiction of the twenty-first century. Look, historically, the raunchy kids died in horror films. People who were super drunk or on drugs. Or... I can't stand calling people sluts, but you catch my drift. The people who, historically, were considered 'bad seeds.' Well, these days, we're all woke," Jesse explained. "We know that sex and booze don't make you any more a bad person than giving to charity makes you a good person. Interestingly, horror films have reflected this historical shift."

 

"You sound like a research paper," Beca muttered.

 

"Thank you, I hope to write my thesis on this idea some day," Jesse answered. "Anyhow, nowadays, horror films don't kill off the non-virgins merely because said status as a non-virgin. Horror movies are trickier now. Sure, being at an alcohol-induced rager increases the risk of murder, but only if you do something dumb."

 

"Such as?" CR asked.

 

"Wandering outside alone in the dark to call your girlfriend because you're drunk and fighting. Or wandering into the creepy, unlit basement because you want to blaze up in private. Or getting so drunk you pass out alone on the lawn chair outside."

 

"I think we catch your drift,” Donald interrupted.

 

"Okay, well that leaves one final rule. The most important rule. We've talked about the killer, we've talked about the dead people, now we come full circle. Rule number three," Jesse led up.

 

“The survivors,” Lilly whispered ominously. She was literally grinning from ear to ear. Conversations like this were the bread and butter to Lilly’s life.

 

“Yes, very good, Lilly,” Jesse applauded. “The survivors. Always, without fail, the cinnamon roll survives," Jesse finished.

 

"I... don't know what that means," Beca admitted with annoyance.

 

"Think about the sweetest, most adorable person that you would literally protect at all costs," Jesse instructed to the crowd.

 

Without thinking, Beca's gaze wandered to Chloe. Chloe grinned back at Beca. Beca widened her eyes like a deer caught in headlights. Why had she been staring at Chloe, again? Chloe’s grin widened into a beam as Chloe threw a wink Beca’s way. Blushing, Beca averted her eyes toward the ground.

 

"That person is the cinnamon roll. They can't die," Jesse explained. "It would make people hate the movie beyond redemption. The cinnamon roll has to survive. It's an absolute."

 

The ‘New Rules’ as Beca came to remember them, stuck with her for the rest of the night. Of course she didn’t believe any of this nonsense, but it was comforting in a way. She wouldn’t die if she acted intelligently. And Chloe wouldn’t die because she was a cinnamon roll.

 

The night wore on and the crowd of people more or less put Jesse’s advice behind them. Within the hour, people were drinking just as much as they always had, filtering in and out of the house, and sneaking off to secluded rooms to hook up with other people. Despite it all, Beca found she was rather enjoying herself. I mean, anything was better than being locked in the Bella house for another night, right?

 

"Wanna play a game?" Stacie asked, saddling up next to Beca.

 

"Jesus, you sound like Jigsaw," Beca scoffed.

 

"What-saw?" Amy asked.

 

"Jigsaw. It's a character from the movie, 'Saw,'" Beca answered. Reading Amy's surprised expression, Beca continued, "I know. I watch movies now... the one lasting aspect of my relationship with Jesse."

 

"Well, I want to play a game," Flo added.

 

"Okay, it's a fan favorite. Truth or dare."

 

"No. I’m not buying into this."

 

"Maybe not if we ask you," Stacie fired back. Stacie turned to her right, where Chloe stood, leaning against the counter, conversing with CR as she half paid attention to Stacie and Beca's banter. "Chloe?" Stacie asked.

 

"What?" Came Chloe's chirpy answer, as she snapped her blue eyes over to Stacie in acknowledgement.

 

"Make Beca listen to me."

 

Beca looked at Stacie smugly. There was no way Chloe was going to stand for this.

 

"Listen to Stacie, Becs," Chloe teased lightly, not bothering to ask what it was that Stacie wanted Beca to do.

 

Beca's face fell and her jaw snapped open and closed several times with shock. Stacie grinned.

 

After several seconds of stammering, Beca spit out to Chloe in a complaining tone, "Dude, you can't tell me what to do."

 

Chloe chuckled at Beca's reaction. Chloe loved getting a rise out of Beca. Nevermind the fact that she was buzzed, that only egged her along further. Grinning, Chloe decided to push Beca's buttons a bit further. "I promise I'll make it worth your while," she offered with a sultry wink.

 

"This is ridiculous." Beca said, her face growing a bit pink as she averted her eyes away from Chloe.

 

"Come on, I’ll play too," Chloe countered.

 

Beca sighed dramatically and said nothing for a few moments. "Fine. This is getting really out of hand."

 

Smug looks passed among Jessica, Ashley, CR, and Stacie. Chloe had just bent Beca's will with relative ease.

 

"Alright, Ice Queen," Stacie addressed Beca teasingly, "Since you're such a fan of the game, you're up first. Truth... or dare?" Stacie asked slitting her eyes as she questioned Beca seductively.

 

Beca paused, considering the choice, resolving to elect the lesser of two evils. After a few moments, Beca decided. "Truth."

 

Stacie locked eyes with CR, a mischievous smile spreading across Stacie's face. "Have you ever been with a girl?"

 

Beca closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Exasperated, she asked, "What does that even mean?"

 

"Oh, you know," Stacie responded, trying her best to sound casual. "Kissed, made out with, fucked."

 

Beca momentarily seethed with quiet resentment until she remembered that she had an 'out' to this question. A technicality that could save her from baring the truth. "Yeah, so my cousin. I made her touch tongues and now she works at Wendy’s and-"

 

"Nope," Stacie cut Beca off. "Family is off limits. I'm asking if you've ever been with a girl romantically."

 

Beca pursed her lips together with irritation. This is why Beca hated this game. She always ended up choosing the wrong option and landing herself in these horribly uncomfortable situations.

 

"Yes." Beca finally provided a monosyllabic answer, choosing not to elaborate further.

 

The group collectively gasped, none more loudly than Chloe. Had Beca really... Chloe swallowed, trying not to look any more interested for which the situation called.

 

"What? You have to tell us everything," Jessica gushed.

 

"Nope, I don't," Beca corrected. "That's not the rules. And I get to go next. So Stacie?" Beca asked, swiftly moving past her confession.

 

Stacie's mouth hung agape as she processed the new information she had just learned about Beca. Was Beca really not going to elaborate at all?

 

"Huh?" Stacie finally responded, snapping her mouth closed.

 

"Payback's a bitch. Truth or dare?"

 

"Dare," Stacie shrugged. "There's nothing you could ask that I wouldn't tell you."

 

Amy snorted. "There's also nothing Short Stack could dare that you wouldn't do."

 

"Probably," Stacie admitted.

 

Almost as if Beca had been waiting for this very opportunity, Beca fired off, "I dare you to go give one of those Evermoist girls your phone number."

 

"Already have," Stacie yawned.

 

"What?" Most of the girls collectively asked.

 

"Yeah, that Calamity girl. She's smoking hot. So since I've already done Beca's dare, I guess I get to go again? Amy, truth or dare?" Stacie asked, graciously deciding to take the heat away from Beca.

 

"Truth," Amy answered, resolutely nodding her head.

 

Stacie asked, "Have you ever fucked Bumper?"

 

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Amy trailed off, stammering to buy herself more time to mentally outmaneuver the question. "Well, I haven't exactly not been not not undressed with Bumper."

 

Everyone scrunched their faces, trying to deduce Amy's 'negatives' down to the truth of the matter. How many negatives had she put in that sentence?

 

"Four!" Flo exclaimed with pride. "Four negatives."

 

"Which means positive," Ashley clarified.

 

"Which means that she has, in fact, been with Bumper," Jessica concluded.

 

"Bunch of nerds," Amy whispered to herself.

 

Beca bit her tongue to stifle laughter. Beca's amusement was short-lived, however, because Amy relentlessly tossed Beca's name back into the ring. "Shawshank. Truth or dare?"

 

Fuck. "Dare," Beca answered without a second thought as she took a large gulp of her drink. There was no way on earth she was picking truth after her last go-around. And she was going to need all the liquid courage she could muster to get through whatever insane task Amy had in mind.

 

"I dare you to give Donald a rim job."

 

"What? No!" Beca barked, taken aback. "I'm not... I'm not doing that," Beca answered resolutely, pointing a finger at Amy. "You have to give me something else."

 

"Fine..." Amy permitted with feigned reluctance. As if she pretended she was offering Beca a favor, Amy reconsidered. "You can give Ginger a lap dance instead."

 

Beca frowned heavily while the rest of the gang laughed. Of course Amy had Trojan-Horsed her dare for Beca. Of course she had pretended to dare Beca to give a rim job before 'backing off' with her actual dare for Beca. Everyone knew that given the options, Beca would not complain about giving a lap dance when faced with that unfortunate alternative.

 

Beca looked questioningly to Chloe and cocked an eyebrow, wordlessly seeking her permission. A blush was creeping up Chloe's neck as she bit her bottom lip and offered a small nod of the head. Beca's heart thumped against her chest while she tried to pretend as though she wasn't about to cross some serious boundaries with her friend. Beca cleared her throat, which for some reason, was dry as a bone.

 

"I'll pick a song," Amy prodded along, wanting to get to the good part of this dare. Because so far, this dare had only consisted of Beca and Chloe making eyes at one another.

 

"No," Beca insisted suddenly. "I mean, no. I want to pick the song."

 

Chloe's insides swirled around with total excitement. Beca sure was taking charge of this whole situation and Chloe would be lying if she said she didn't feel totally and one hundred percent turned on in this moment.

 

After Beca picked the song, she handed her phone to Amy and strutted with confidence up to Chloe. Pulling the red solo cup out of Chloe's hands, Beca put the lip of the cup to Chloe's lips.

 

"Down in one, Beale. You're going to need to be a little liquored up to handle what I'm about to throw your way," Beca whispered, shooting Chloe a wink.

 

Chloe quickly downed the drink's contents in a sip, grimacing at the taste of the strong liquor. Not that her mind was focused on that. Because in this moment, the only thing Chloe could think about was how goddamned sexy Beca was, standing over her suggestively with that gleam in her eyes.

 

The melody to 'S&M' began playing in the background. Beca placed her hand on top of the back of Chloe's chair, straddling the older girl without lowering down her body and touching her. Chloe sat back in her chair with wide eyes, frozen in place as she watched Beca sway in tune with the music. Locking eyes with Chloe, Beca leaned in close, rolling her body against Chloe's, Chloe audibly gasping at the touch.

 

Neither girl moved for a split second, both processing Chloe's gasp. Something snapped inside Beca. Suddenly, she was moving to the beat of the music in a new way entirely. The only thing that mattered to Beca anymore was hearing more of that reaction from Chloe. By the time the song began to crescendo into its first chorus, Beca was facing Chloe and riding her lap, her hands exploring up and down Chloe's body.

 

Bother girls faces were flushed, as any polite or innocent pretenses had flown out the window. Beca was ostentatiously grinding herself against Chloe while Chloe bit her bottom lip to keep from screaming out. Beca meanwhile, was doing everything in her power to make Chloe scream out. As her hips continued swaying to the beat of the song, Beca ran her hands lightly up the sides of Chloe's ribcage, stopping momentarily before bringing her hands to Chloe's breasts. If a reaction was Beca's goal, she exceeded expectations by a mile. A long, guttural groan escaped from the back of Chloe's throat.

 

Beca's lips curled into a smirk, pleased at herself for bringing this sound from Chloe. Chloe had officially reached her tipping point and reached her hands out to steady them on Beca's ass. As soon as her hands made contact with Beca, Beca jolted back, pushing Chloe's hands back down to her sides.

 

"Come on, Beale, you know the rules," Beca purred, standing up out of Chloe's lap.

 

Chloe swallowed hard, unable to process everything coming at her. In tune to the music, Beca stepped around Chloe, to the back of her chair. Leaning into Chloe's ear, Beca whispered, "You have to sit still and watch me drive you wild."

 

Chloe could hear the smug arrogance dripping from Beca's tone and it was making her crazy. Her core was throbbing and she dearly missed the friction Beca had been creating when she was on her lap.

 

Beca grabbed Chloe's shoulders shimmying down the length of her before rolling her body into the back of the chair. As the second chorus rolled around, Beca returned to the front of Chloe's chair, sitting back in her lap, facing away from Chloe. Beca swayed her hips back and forth, creating circles in Chloe's lap. Chloe panted while she resisted the instinctual urge to reach out and grab Beca again.

 

As the second chorus faded out, Beca grinded herself one final time into Chloe's lap before standing up. She flipped herself around in one fluid motion so that she was now facing Chloe again. Beca leaned in close to Chloe and ran the tip of her nose along Chloe's jawline, her breath hot on Chloe's neck.

 

"Ready for this?" Beca asked in a breathy whisper.

 

Chloe nodded wordlessly. She didn't think her brain was functioning at a level that could form any words at this point. Beca straddled Chloe, looking her squarely in the eyes as she lowered her body on Chloe's lap. Beca winked at Chloe at the same time that she continued grinding herself on Chloe. One of Beca's hands found its way into Chloe's hair, pulling lightly at it while Beca rode Chloe hard. Chloe suffered, barely able to resist the urge to buck her hips and increase the friction Beca was so expertly creating.

 

When the song finally faded out, the girls didn't move, their faces inches apart. Oh my God. Chloe needed new words altogether to describe what, hands down, had to be the single hottest moment of her entire life. Arousal pulsated through her body, coursing strongly and pounding through her veins. Chloe swallowed, unable to stop her gaze from dropping away from Beca's eyes, down Beca's cute nose, and landing on Beca's sexy lips.

 

Suddenly, a distinct vibration reverberated on Chloe's legs. It felt good. Really good. The reverberation occurred a second time. Beca, who was still straddling Chloe's lap, also felt the vibration. It had to be Chloe's phone.

 

Beca cleared her throat, awkwardly removing herself from Chloe's lap and reentering the world. For a few minutes there, she had almost been in a trance, unable to think or do anything that didn't center on getting that gasping reaction from Chloe. What was that about? And had Chloe felt it, too, or was this all a one-sided thing?

 

Beca looked at Chloe, who was looking at her phone, frowning heavily. "I, um," Chloe stammered, "I... excuse me, for a moment."

 

Chloe quickly exited the room, leaving the other Bellas silently watching her departure. Beca tried not to show her hurt pride, shrugging as she turned around to face the other girls.

 

"She's probably, uh, freshening up the downtown," CR offered with some honesty. "I know I would be doing the same thing if I were her."

 

"Yeah, totally. I had no idea you had moves like that, Mitchell," Stacie complimented. Coming from someone like Stacie, this compliment had some importance.

 

After Chloe's sudden departure, the game trekked on for a little longer before eventually fizzling out. The girls disbanded, some of them wandering off to find snacks, others to find drinks, and others yet, to find hookups.

 

Beca found herself ambling through the hallways, her head fuzzy with alcohol as she searched for Chloe. Where had she gone so suddenly?

 

"That's it!" Beca was momentarily distracted by a yelling voice to her left. "We're over!"

 

Beck Harris. Sophomore and active member in BU Harmonics. He had been in Beca's chemistry class during her freshman year and they had been lab partners. He was the only reason Beca had passed Chem. 101. Beca looked a little more closely at the man to whom Beck as yelling. Ah, his boyfriend. Or ex-boyfriend, as the case may now be.

 

"Fine!" The other, unidentified male yelled back to Beck. "I don't want to date a controlling bitch, anyway!"

 

Beck turned on his heels, pushing gently past Beca as he excused himself from the conversation. He walked right out the front door, slamming it behind them. Beca took several steps back, trying to discreetly remove herself from the situation.

 

"It's okay," the ex-boyfriend sighed, addressing Beca. "We're just blowing off steam. We'll get back together tomorrow the way we always do."

 

"This has happened before?" Beca couldn't stop herself from asking.

 

"It's happened several times before. When you love someone, nothing makes any sense."

 

"I feel like you're looking straight into my soul, dude." It was more than possible that Beca was a little drunk.

 

The other guy nodded. "You've felt it before," he observed.

 

"No, not yet," Beca corrected.

 

"You have," he affirmed, turning to walk away. Casting a parting glace to Beca, he finished by adding, "You probably just don't know it yet."

 

Beca internally reeled over these words as she continued wandering through the hallways, looking for Chloe. Beca wandered through the house looking warily for Chloe. It was more than a little possible that Beca was drunk. Passing a bedroom, she heard the undeniable voices of Amy and Bumper.

 

"I see you undressing me with your eyes," Bumper accused flirtatiously.

 

"I'm adding more clothes, Bumper.”

 

Beca shook her head as hurried past the bedroom. She did not want to know what was going on between those two. Beca poked her head into another bedroom.

 

“Oh fuck, baby, just like that,” a female voice moaned.

 

Squinting, Beca tried to make out the voice. It sounded so familiar.

 

“Yes!” The voice screamed.

 

Stacie. Stacie was banging someone. Beca raised her eyebrows. Was literally everyone hooking up tonight? Beca hurried down the length of the hallway and made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. As Beca was walking into the kitchen from the stairway, Chloe was slipping into the kitchen from the garage.

 

“Chloe!” Beca exclaimed. “Where on earth have you been?”

 

"I think I did something bad," Chloe whispered, moving in close to Beca.

 

Beca rolled her eyes as she took in the sight of the other girl. Chloe’s hair was a mess. Her makeup was running. Her eyes were cutting in and out of focus. Even though her feet were planted in one spot, her body was swaying. Simply put, Chloe was wasted.

 

"Well, you kept your shirt on, so that's a win,” Beca observed sarcastically.

 

Chloe took a deep breath, her eyes trained to a tile on the kitchen floor. "I think it's my fault she died."

 

"That's insane,” Beca dismissed. “Why would you think that?"

 

"It's this feeling I have. I think it's my fault,” Chloe rambled, slurring her words.

 

"Did you cut off her head?" Beca asked before crossing her arms.

 

"No."

 

"Do you know who did?" Beca continued.

 

"No."

 

"Then it's not your fault,” Beca concluded with simplicity.

 

Chloe smiled, lightly at first, although the smile grew with time. The smile was infectious, it appeared, as Beca began smiling too. She wasn’t sure where Chloe had been the past thirty minutes or why Chloe was suddenly, really, really drunk, but she was glad that Chloe was here. That she didn’t seem to be too weirded out by the earlier lap dance.

 

"I'm really glad I have you, Becs. You're really special to me," Chloe admitted, taking Beca’s hands in her own.

 

"Okay, you're blackout,” Beca observed evenly.

 

"I love your nose and how it's so cute and narrow.” Chloe was now grinning as her pointer finger ran down the ridge of Beca’s nose.

 

"You're not gonna remember any of this tomorrow, are you?"

 

"You're the most beautiful person I've ever met,” Chloe continued sweetly, ignoring Beca.

 

Hiccupping several times, Chloe stumbled over her own feet and fell into Beca. Beca had to take several backwards steps to control Chloe’s weight and keep the two of them from tumbling down to the floor. Chloe was now more or less only supported by Beca’s weight.

 

"I think we need to get you home." Beca grunted as she made the executive decision that Chloe was officially tapped out.

 

Beca began stumbling to the front doorway with a nearly passed out Chloe in tow. As she reached the front door, the hum of an electric melody filled the air. In case the opening notes weren't recognizable on their own, the accompanying lyrics effectively settled any uncertainty.

 

Hiya, Barbie.

Hi Ken!

Wanna go for a ride?

Sure, Ken

Jump in.

 

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Beca complained at the song choice.

 

"Kind of a weird song," Jesse joked, appearing on Beca’s left side and propping up the other side of Chloe.

 

"I know," Beca answered. "Kind of makes perfect sense then," she reasoned.

 

"How's that?"

 

"Well, this is kind of a weird time. Last week was really weird. There’s a weird new a-capella group on campus. The Bellas have a weird new bodyguard. It’s all weird.”

 

"Is it just me, or does 'weird' not even sound like a real word anymore?" Jesse asked. "Weird, weird, weird, weird..." he started repeating to himself.

 

"Are you stoned?" Beca joked.

 

Jesse opened his mouth to respond to Beca but before any words came out, a series of loud knocks pounded the front door of the Treble house.

 

"Fuck, campus police!" Jesse panicked.

 

To the crowd of party-goers, Jesse bellowed, "Police!"

 

Beca scanned the crowd. She had never seen a group of people scatter more quickly in her life. Everyone grew silent, the only remaining sound being the sickeningly cheerful tune of 'Barbie Girl.'

 

I'm a Barbie girl,

In the Barbie world,

Life in plastic,

It's fantastic,

You can brush my hair,

Undress me everywhere

Imagination

Life is your creation

 

Jesse turned to Beca, his eyes wide with fear. His parents were going to most definitely kill him if he got a drinking ticket. He was beyond fucked.

 

"Let me handle this one," Beca offered, reading Jesse's look like a book. Even though Beca and Jesse didn't make sense as a couple, that didn't mean that they wouldn't remain close friends. Beca transferred Chloe’s weight to Jesse as she went to answer the front door.

 

"I owe you, dude," Jesse exhaled, making way for Beca to open the front door and meet her doom with the campus police.

 

Beca took a deep breath and reached slowly, yet deliberately for the front doorknob, straightening her posture in the process. She needed to pretend to be as sober and alert as possible. Turning the knob, Beca opened the front door. Relax, Beca, she told herself. It's probably just a noise complaint. Act sober. You're good at acting sober, right? Sure!

 

What Beca was expecting to open the door to find was not remotely close to the sight she found before her. Beca heard a blood curdling scream drowning out the tune of Barbie Girl. It took several seconds before she realized the horrible scream was, in fact, her own.

 

The door slowly swung completely open, revealing the source of Beca's screams to the other party-goers. ‘Standing’ on the front porch was a lifeless BU Harmonic, skewered into a metal rod that held the young man upright, while he wore nothing but a two piece bikini, a pair of white elbow-length gloves, and a pair of stiletto pink heels. His eyes were glazed over as his rigid body hung sadly on the metal rod that had literally been drilled through his torso. The rod was supported by a large wooden plank on the bottom, creating the sickest, most awful showcase for a murder that Beca had ever laid eyes upon.

 

He looked... just like a Barbie, Beca thought with horror. The song. It was... connected. Just like the last murder.

 

Beca leaned over to the potted plant next to the door and hurled loudly, her sickness totally overshadowed by the despairing screams of the other party-goers and the closing lyrics of 'Barbie Girl.'

 

Oh, I'm having so much fun!

Well, Barbie, we are just getting started.

Oh, I love you Ken.

 

Beca continued emptying the contents of her stomach into the potted fern while Flo pushed frantically past the crowd of hysteric people and made her way over to Beca.

 

"Beca!" Flo called, squatting down next to Beca and enveloping her in a suffocating huh, while the smaller girl began dry heaving. There was no more alcohol or food to empty from her system.

 

"Relax, Beca," CR calmly instructed Beca as she, too, made her way to Beca’s side. CR swallowed, trying herself to ignore the extremely disturbing murder scene on the front porch.

 

After dry heaving one or two final times, Beca took a deep breath and lifted her head slowly to meet CR’s eyes. "Relax?" She croaked. "Someone is shish kebab-ed on the front porch."

 

"I know that," CR answered, her eyes not breaking from Beca's gaze, as she rubbed Beca's arm. "We can't change that. Jessica or Ashley… the blonde one… has called the police and they're on their way. We need to get you away from... from... the 'house guest.'"

 

Against Beca's better judgment, she cut her gaze over to the 'house guest' on the front porch, taking in the way that the bright pink bikini matched the color of the guy's bright pink stilettos. Someone incredibly sick had orchestrated this murder and had dressed this poor BU Harmonic up like a pageant girl to perfect a murder. Turning her head back to CR, Beca felt very heavy all of a sudden, her head lolling from side to side. Her vision was cutting in and out and her ears were ringing. Oh no... Beca slumped into Flo's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much everyone for all of the support so far, I really appreciate the wonderful comments! This is an awesome story to write and you all are great :)


	3. Chapter 3- Piece of Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone, I am so incredibly thankful for all of your kind words and encouragement. It means the world to me, really. I know I'm not just writing this for myself, but others too. Thanks a billion!
> 
> And without further delay, enjoy!

CHAPTER 3- PIECE OF ME

 

"Unless you've been living under a rock, you'd know that two days ago, another collegiate a-capella member was brutally murdered at a party hosted by the Treblemakers,” Gail reported, as she stood directly in front of the Treblemaker’s house.

 

"A tragic loss indeed. This is the second loss the Barden a-capella community has experienced in the past week and a half,” John added.

 

"Dare I say it John?" Gail asked, with a little too much cheer.

 

"Well, you're a gossiping woman so you're probably gonna say it anyway.” John smiled at the camera, blindingly unaware of his own misogyny.

 

"Barden might have a serial killer on its hands!” Gail exclaimed.

 

John nodded. “A serial killer who silences the voices of young singers through murders most foul."

 

"It's just so incredibly-"

 

"Interesting, Gail,” John interrupted. “Yes, so incredibly interesting. I mean, where someone gets an idea to ram a metal pole through a body and create a human mannequin is beyond me."

 

"It's beyond all of us, John,” Gail’s chirpy voice corrected. “That's why we're not serial killers, but documentary reporters."

 

"Yes, reporters who, by the way, have just reached one million subscribers on YouTube."

 

"We're incredibly popular," Gail exclaimed enthusiastically.

 

"It seems there's an untapped market for true crime enthusiasts."

 

Gail nodded vigorously, her eye twitching several times in the process. Gail and John were currently caffeinated to near-lethal amounts.

 

Smiling widely, she added, "How humbled we are to be constantly located on campus and awake one hundred percent of the time so to capture every exclusive piece of information and evidence."

 

"Let's take a moment to close our eyes and-"

 

"John, we're in the middle of a podcast. Even though we haven't slept in the past... thirty-six hours doesn't mean-" Gail trailed off, before John interrupted her.

 

"I'm not talking about a nap. I'm talking about a moment of silence."

 

"Ah, yes," Gail agreed, shaking her head viciously, her eyes twitching several more times in the process. "Let's take a moment to honor... what's his name?"

 

"Oh. What is his name?" John wondered aloud. "Henry..."

 

"Beck Harris," Gail supplied. "Just Googled it,” she added, holding her phone up to the camera.

 

Neither John nor Gail realized just how incompetent reporters they really were but instead, bowed their heads theatrically to honor the murdered student.

 

"It's almost like you can hear his spirit in the wind," John mused.

 

"Yes, it sounds like a... repetitive clicking sound. Like a-"

 

"Get out of here, this is a crime scene!" A police officer yelled to the two nosy reporters.

 

John and Gail snapped their eyes open and stood face-to-face with an investigative detective, who was holding a camera in his hands. John and Gail were standing near the front porch of the Treble house, right in the middle of the criminal investigation. John and Gail heeded authority by collecting their filmmaking gear, and trudging away.

 

Meanwhile, the Bellas had just endured yet another round of police questioning. This time, the interrogation occurred at the Bella house. Chloe and Beca had been particularly on edge during the questioning because, as it happened, they had each lied to the police officers. Well, rather, Beca had lied to the police officers and Chloe had nodded along with Beca’s lie.

 

As Beca and Chloe swiftly made their way out of the Bella house and toward Chloe’s car, Beca’s mind circled back to a conversation from the prior morning.

 

*****

 

"You don't remember last night?" Beca asked Chloe.

 

"No," Chloe admitted, getting out of bed. Groaning, she clutched her head. Damn, this was a bad hangover. Chloe fished around in her dresser drawer for the Advil.

 

Beca bit her cheek nervously and started playing with her hands. She wasn’t looking forward to telling Chloe about the previous night’s murder and she was kind of hoping that some part of Chloe had remembered any of it. "Alright, well you're gonna want to sit down for this. We... um... we..."

 

"Did we have sex?" Chloe’s eyes widened as she swung around to face Beca. I mean Beca had given Chloe that sexy lap dance. And then… and then things had become extraordinarily fuzzy.

 

"No!” Beca exclaimed defensively. “Why would you... never mind. It's not that."

 

Internally, Chloe sighed with relief. She would never want to forget her first time with Beca. And yes, she could easily admit, she was hopeful that there would be a first time with Beca. And then, hopefully, a lot of times after that.

 

Despite her raging hangover, Chloe plastered a cheery smile on her face. "Well what is it then, silly?"

 

"We... witnessed a murder.”

 

"Oh my God, what?" Chloe spat out, nearly choking on the three Advil she had just swallowed. Chloe began pacing the floor, utterly panicked.

 

"Hey, hey... it's gonna be okay,” Beca tried to sooth. “I mean, right? Just... let's take a deep breath. Okay?"

 

Chloe sat down, saying nothing. “I don’t remember it. How?”

 

“Well, you know how alcohol works, yes?” Beca asked with a half smirk.

 

*****

 

By this time, the two girls had made it into Chloe’s car. Chloe was playing with her keys nervously as her mind reeled and her stomach tied itself in knots. What had they just done? They had just lied to a police officer? Chloe never lied. She was honest to a fault. She was the kind of girl who would walk up to someone and shamelessly admit she wanted to kiss them. Lying wasn’t her gig.

 

“Wanna try putting the key in the ignition there, Chlo?” Beca asked impatiently.

 

"Becs, I'm confused," Chloe whispered under her breath.

 

"Shh. We'll talk later. Just drive,” Beca instructed. Beca didn’t know why, but it seemed very important to get off campus before they discussed what had just occurred with the police interrogation.

 

Chloe obeyed, putting the key in the car’s ignition and driving out of the parking lot. Operating on autopilot, Chloe sped down the road to ‘Bean There Done That,’ the girls’ favorite coffee shop. In the process of driving, Chloe sideswiped a mailbox and nearly ran over a group of pedestrians. Beca braced herself for dear life. Chloe wasn’t a good driver on a normal day. Adding nerves to the mix did not improve matters. Chloe was hell on wheels. Beca mentally reminded herself to not let Chloe drive home. Once they were situated in the coffee shop, the girls resumed their earlier conversation.

 

Leaning over the table towards Beca, Chloe whispered, “Did you lie about what happened the other night?"

 

"No,” Beca responded with conviction. Chloe stared at Beca, squinting her eyes at the younger girl. Beca swallowed hard. “No,” Beca repeated with slightly less conviction. “No…”

 

"You did. What happened?" Chloe demanded harshly while still keeping her tone down to a whisper.

 

Beca had, in fact, lied to the police officers. She had lied, before shooting Chloe that intense warning glare which meant that Chloe damn well better go along with whatever Beca was saying. Chloe could read Beca like a book. She knew that she had to agree with the story Beca was telling the police.

 

Beca had told the police that Chloe was drunk. The two of them had been together all night. They weren’t apart for more than a moment. Once Beca figured that Chloe had consumed enough alcohol, Beca had decided to take her home. They opened the front door to leave the party and witnessed the murdered student.

 

Beca sighed, deciding to come clean. "You disappeared last night. Like evaporated into thin air, disappeared,” Beca hissed, leaning across the table toward Chloe. “And when I finally found you, well, you were really drunk. And I decided to take you home. When I opened the front door..."

 

"I'm so sorry," Chloe apologized.

 

"Don't be. I'm just glad I found you, to be honest."

 

"Why'd you do it?" Chloe asked. She couldn’t understand why Beca had felt the need to lie to the police officers about their togetherness that night. Couldn’t Beca have just told the truth? That they weren’t with one another until minutes before the murder?

 

"Chlo. Just... God.” Beca ran a hand through her hair nervously. “Don't you think it puts a huge fucking target on your back if you're blackout and no one, including you, can place your location twenty minutes before a murder?"

 

"So you're just gonna defend me without even knowing what I may have done?" Chloe clarified.

 

"Pretty much,” Beca agreed, taking a sip from her coffee.

 

"If they find out we lied, you're going to get dragged into this, too."

 

Beca narrowed her eyes at Chloe. "They're not gonna find out. Besides, if we go down, at least we'll go down together."

 

Chloe smiled, her mind feeling a strange combination of adoration and utter fear. "I don't know why I deserve you."

 

"Please,” Beca answered with a wave of her hand, “You're my best friend."

 

Chloe stared down at her coffee, unable to meet Beca’s gaze. "What if I did it? What if you lied for me, but I did it?"

 

"You didn't,” Beca answered evenly and calmly. “That was one of the things you told me in your state last night... One of the many things,” she added.

 

"Oh?”

 

"It's not worth getting into, trust me,” Beca muttered. Beca didn’t want to get into the fact that Chloe was very flirty in her blacked out state.

 

“Be-caw!” A voice echoed from across the coffee shop. It could be none other than Jesse.

 

“Jesse, what are you… what are you doing here?” Beca stammered, as she watched Jesse and Benji, each with coffees in hand, stride across the cozy shop and over to Beca and Chloe’s table.

 

“Good to see you, too,” Jesse chuckled, immune to Beca’s apparent surprise. “Benji and I are just here for our morning coffee run.”

 

“Hi,” Benji poked out from behind Jesse, waving at the girls.

 

“Hi!” Chloe greeted the pair warmly.

 

“Hi.” Beca’s greeting was curt.

 

“So… your face tells me that you’re still trying to make sense of this all,” Jesse observed, taking a sip of his coffee.

 

Beca scoffed. “Oh, and you’re not? Just because you’re the scary movie guru?”

 

“Hey, I’m confused, too,” Jesse admitted, “But I’ve made peace with my confusion, unlike you.”

 

“And why is that?” Beca asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

 

“Because Beck didn’t follow the rules. He stormed out of the house alone and-”

 

“Dude, this wasn’t his fault,” Beca snapped. Of course Jesse would bring up his stupid ‘new rules’ in a moment like this. He was so full of this idea that they were all living in a scary movie that he couldn’t wake up and smell the coffee… no pun intended. He was oblivious to the fact that this was real life. A killer was actually living among them and picking them off, one by one.

 

“Of course not,” Jesse back peddled, realizing his former statement had been a little too insensitive. “But it was pretty predictable, you have to admit, for a second killing. I imagine the third one will be a little harder to gauge.”

 

“You think there’ll be more?” Chloe asked with abject horror.

 

“Unfortunately, we’re still at the beginning of this movie,” Jesse stated with defeat.

 

“For fuck’s sake, this isn’t a movie, Jesse,” Beca lashed out.

 

“Life is a movie,” Benji offered with insightfulness.

 

“We’re all just characters,” Jesse added.

 

Beca huffed, tired of Jesse’s nonsense. “Your cavalier attitude about these murders is mighty suspicious.”

 

“You can’t start the witch hunt,” Jesse warned, scolding Beca lightly. “ It never gets anyone anywhere. At this point, the murderer could be anyone.”

 

“Even me,” Chloe added in a whisper, her eyes downcast at the table.

 

“Except you,” Beca corrected automatically, the words flying out of her mouth almost before Chloe had finished speaking. Nothing was more obvious to Beca than her fervent belief that Chloe was not a murderer.

 

“She’s right,” Jesse agreed. “It could be anyone. We just have to wait for this to resolve itself.”

 

“Fucking Christ. I hope the police shows up soon.” Beca rolled her eyes.

 

Shrugging Jesse offered, “Well, it is about time for the movie to introduce a new plot twist. Maybe not the police, but the introduction of an ally with just as much of a raw, take-charge attitude.”

 

“Is that right?” Beca asked rhetorically, her lips pursing together tightly, as she stood up from the table.

 

“Yep. We’re about to meet a character who’s on our side, for a change.”

 

Beca and Chloe left Benji and Jesse in the coffee shop, still talking amongst themselves about this whole ‘movie’ theory, and where in the movie they currently stood. Beca and Chloe had endured more than enough of this nonsense.

 

"Can I have the keys?" Beca asked casually, as the girls made their way back to the car.

 

"Why?" Chloe responded with a perplexed expression as she dug her keys out of her purse.

 

"I just want to hold them," came a disingenuous reply. 

 

"Why?" Chloe asked, clutching the keys more tightly in her closed hand. Chloe's expression was more strained as she had now begun to suspect that Beca may be operating under ulterior motives.

 

"So I can use them... to drive home."

 

"Excuse me?" Chloe's eyes lit up with a passionate gleam and she turned on Beca. Her voice positively seethed.

 

"Please don't give me that look," Beca pleaded flatly, rolling her eyes. Great. Chloe was now officially pissed off.

 

"Oh, this look? What, are you offended? Have I hurt your feelings?" Chloe narrowed her eyes at Beca, taking a step closer to the girl.

 

Beca groaned. "Don't... don't be like this, okay? It's just...your driving. You..." Beca trailed off, totally flustered.

 

"Finish your thought, Beca," Chloe whispered, taking another step closer to Beca.

 

"Do you really want me to say it?" Beca was now feeling slightly afraid. Beca gritted her teeth, baring herself for the unpleasant conversation to come.

 

"Yes, I want you to tell me exactly what you think of my driving." Chloe challenged.

 

Beca swallowed hard. Chloe's blue eyes radiated fury. Beca dug to the bottom of her soul and summoned the courage to spit out in one breath, "It's bad. Really bad. You drive like a bat out of hell."

 

Chloe said nothing as she crossed her arms, bit her inner cheek, and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at Beca. While Chloe slowly and deliberately considered her next action, Beca couldn't tell whether Chloe was about to kill her. 

 

"I'm scared." Beca whispered, the confession pouring out of her mouth without any conscious forethought.

 

"Hm," Chloe hummed, her expression easing somewhat as her eyes flickered a playful gleam. "Badass Beca Mitchell is scared of my driving," she replied teasingly.

 

"No, I mean I’m scared right now."

 

Chloe lightened as she took a final step toward Beca, closing the remaining space between the girls. By this point, their noses were mere inches apart. Chloe whispered, "You wanna drive? Well, Mitchell, have at it." Chloe winked at Beca before grabbing her right hand and thrusting the car keys into Beca's palm.

 

Beca swallowed hard, panic sweeping across her face. Her head felt like it was spinning out of control. Why did this electrical charge feel like it was passing between them as Chloe's hand touched Beca's hand? Beca felt her pulse quicken and she felt unsure why that was. Maybe it was because her best friend had just winked at her and was standing nose to nose with her. Her best friend who, okay, was actually really hot. I mean, that wasn't weird to think, right? Objectively, it was true. Anyone would agree.

 

"Okay," Beca answered shakily. Beca cleared her throat, taking a step back away from Chloe and regaining her composure. "Okay," she repeated more confidently.

 

Beca and Chloe climbed into the car and Beca turned the key into the ignition. Beca carefully pulled out of the parking spot as Chloe leaned back in her chair. Chloe smiled to herself. She missed Beca, all of her. She had missed their coffee runs from last year. She missed picking on Beca. She missed Beca picking on her. She felt indescribably whole to have her friend alongside her again. Even if her friend was occasionally a brat about driving, Chloe thought with a conceding grin.

 

As the girls neared campus, Beca's favorite Britney Spears song came on the local radio station. Piece of Me. "Turn it up," Beca instructed to Chloe, rounding the curve and turning onto their street. Chloe complied and cranked the radio.

 

“I'm Miss American Dream since I was seventeen

Don't matter if I step on the scene

Or sneak away to the Philippines

They still gon' put pictures of my derriere in the magazine

You want a piece of me?

You want a piece of me”

 

By this point, Chloe and Beca were singing along, fully invested in the song. Beca grinned, singing a little bit louder as she matched harmony with Chloe. She would be lying if she said she didn't relish these moments. Chloe was dancing in her seat while Beca occasionally cut her glance from the road to watch her best friend.

 

“I'm Miss bad media karma

Another day another drama

Guess I can't see no harm

In working and being a mama

And with a kid on my arm

I'm still an exception

And you want a piece of me

 

I'm Mrs. Lifestyles of the rich and famous

(You want a piece of me)

I'm Mrs. Oh my God that Britney's shameless!

(You want a piece of me)

I'm Mrs. Extra! Extra! This just in

(You want a piece of me)

I'm Mrs. she's too big now she's too thin

(You want a piece of me)”

 

During one of the moments that Beca's gaze was on Chloe and not on the road, Beca drove over a pile of leaves which, as it happened, had a “surprise” buried obscurely underneath. An unidentified mass came rolling onto the hood of Chloe's car and onto her windshield, cracking it into a million shards of glass.

 

Beca screamed as she slammed on the brakes, causing Chloe's head to nearly hit the dashboard before her seatbelt caught her. The unidentified mass rolled off the windshield and into a ditch next to the passenger side of the car.

 

The car rolled to a stop, Chloe and Beca’s hearts each pumping overtime. They had just hit something. But what? Neither girl said anything for a moment, as each was recovering from the shock.

 

"Well, I guess we've settled who's gonna be driving from now on," Chloe broke the silence as she joked, unclicking her seatbelt to get a better look at the mystery object. It looked like a bag of sand. Or maybe a sack of potatoes.

 

"Not a word," Beca warned with a scowl, throwing the car into park and stepping outside.

 

The girls stood outside of Chloe’s car, both peering curiously at the mystery bag, which was now lying on a grassy patch of land near the passenger side door.

 

“Geez, Becs, did you try to hit that?” Chloe teased again, gently ribbing Beca.

 

Beca stared blankly at the black bag. “Of course not. Don’t be stupid.”

 

“What do you think we hit?” Chloe asked.

 

“I guess we should look?”

 

“Probably,” Chloe agreed, nodding her head.

 

Tentatively, Beca stepped over to the black bag, leaning over it an inspecting it from all sides. Apart from smelling kind of bad, it didn’t seem to be dangerous. Beca’s hand hovered over the bag, twitching slightly before she leaned down and unzipped the bag. Opening the black bag, Chloe and Beca were met with a sight that neither girl was marginally prepared to face.

 

“FUCK!” Beca screamed dropping the zipper like hot lava and jumping away from the black bag.

 

A rotten smell wafted strongly from the contents of the bag, causing Chloe to nearly gag. Chloe brought her hand to cover her mouth. What was that?

 

“It’s… a… body!” Beca screamed.

 

Chloe leapt back from the black bag, suddenly looking at the putrid mystery object with much more disgust.

 

“A… a body?” Chloe managed to choke out shakily.

 

Beca nodded, her eyes filled with horror. “It’s a torso,” Beca whispered.

 

Chloe whipped out her phone and called the police.

 

About an hour later, Chloe and Beca were escorted home in the back of a police car. When they arrived back at the Bella house, they were greeted not only by the other Bella sisters, but by Beca’s father and Kommissar.

 

“Did you call my dad?” Beca whispered to Chloe, as the police car gently pulled into the driveway of the Bella house.

 

“Of course not,” Chloe answered, whispering out of the side of her mouth as her eyes remained focused forward. “I’m sure he only knows about this because he’s the Dean. And that horrible Kommissar lady probably told him…”

 

Chloe realized how petty she was being. She realized that most of her contempt towards Kommissar tied to the flirtation with Beca. But Chloe also felt fully justified by her intuition telling her that something was off about Kommissar. Chloe wasn’t sure what it was just yet, but something about Kommissar felt sinister.

 

Beca grunted in a way that made Chloe unsure whether or not Beca agreed with her character assessment of Kommissar. Before Chloe could inquire further, they police car rolled to a stop and Beca’s father wasted no time about opening the back door of the police car.

 

“Beca Bear, I’ve been so worried about you,” Mr. Mitchell mused, as he pulled Beca in for a tight hug.

 

“Yes, tiny mouse and tiny red mouse. Worried sick,” Kommissar added, leaning over Mr. Mitchell and whispering into Beca’s ear.

 

Beca recoiled, pulling away from the hug and taking several backward steps away from her father and Kommissar. Beca took several steps backward and blindly backed into another person.

 

The voice behind her spoke in a familiar tone, “This is the kind of thing that I’ll certainly put an end to as house mother for the Bellas.”

 

Beca rolled her eyes at the sound of Aubrey’s voice. Wait… Aubrey? Beca’s eyes grew wide with horror. Aubrey? House mother? Beca shot her head around to Aubrey and then over to her father, who nodded at Beca wisely, nonverbally confirming Beca’s dread.

 

“Bree?” Chloe exclaimed with giddiness, bounding over to Aubrey and enveloping her in a large hug.

 

Mr. Mitchell cleared his throat, his gaze never leaving Beca’s eyes. “I sure hope so, Ms. Posen,” he responded. “Because these young ladies have a knack for sneaking out under the nose of authority. In order to keep them safe, they need more supervision, it appears.”

 

“Needless to say, I will be keeping even more of a watchful eye on these little girls,” Kommissar promised with an evil smile.

 

“Great. Ms. Kommissar?” Beca’s dad asked. “Please follow me over to my office. I’d like to go over additional security details with you. Aubrey?” He continued. “You’re officially the Bella house mother, as of this moment.”

 

Kommissar and Mr. Mitchell filtered away from the house, leaving behind Aubrey and the nine other Bellas. The Bellas all filed inside, the door closing behind them.

 

“Ladies,” Aubrey began evenly, putting her hands on her hips, as she stood in front of the nine other girls. “I know the past several weeks have been rather difficult, and I can honestly say that…”

 

“You need to fall in line!” Aubrey barked loudly, her voice sending waves of echoes throughout the house.

 

Every girl collectively jumped back several feet, cowering from Aubrey’s anger. “You’re a disgrace to the a-capella community and a disgrace to me! Now luckily, I’m going to help you turn things around. Okay?” Aubrey asked rhetorically.

 

The other Bellas bobbed their heads up and down without thought.

 

“Okay, great, we’re all going to get along wonderfully,” Aubrey concluded with optimistic enthusiasm that starkly contradicted her tone from just moments ago.

 

“Just a few rules here,” Aubrey picked up again cheerfully. “First, a curfew. Apart from traveling to and from classes and other activities, approved by me, you aren’t to leave the Bella house.”

 

"You're not the boss of me soooo..." Beca trailed off, hoping to have made her point clear.

 

It took less than a second before Aubrey fired back with, "Actually, yes I am. Your father put me in charge when he made me the house mom. I'm in charge here and you're going to follow my rules. All of you. Understood?" Aubrey asked rhetorically, pointing her finger at each of the girls.

 

The house fell silent as they all nodded in understanding. Even Beca begrudgingly acknowledged defeat as her eyes studied a spot on the rug below her.

 

"Good," Aubrey continued, after the silence made clear everyone's acknowledgement of authority. "Rule number two. As of this moment, we're implementing the 'buddy system.' Can anyone tell me what that means?"

 

Stacie's hand shot up in the air.

 

"Stacie?" Aubrey asked.

 

"It means sex with no strings attached. Like when you want to fuck someone but don't want to date them."

 

"Erm, no, I think that's a different kind of 'buddy' than what Blondie here was talking about," Amy interjected.

 

"Yeah, that's a fuck buddy," CR corrected.

 

"So we're having a fuck buddy system?" Stacie asked excitedly. The girls began muttering animatedly amongst one another.

 

"I know who I'm choosing, I want-" Stacie continued before she was interrupted.

 

"Enough!" Aubrey yelled above the chatter. "We are not having a ffff... a ffff...." Aubrey sighed heavily, rubbing her thumb and pointer fingers across her eyelids in pure exasperation. "We are not having a sex buddy system," she continued, deliberately avoiding the word 'fuck'. "We are having a regular buddy system."

 

"Sounds lame," Amy observed.

 

"I don't care," Aubrey barked, causing Amy to recoil somewhat. "It's what's going to keep us safe. Each one of you is going to be paired with another Bella and where one of you goes, the other one goes. You'll sleep in the same room, eat your meals together, et cetera, et cetera. The idea is safety in numbers. We need to be able to easily account for one another if we want to stay alive."

 

"So together all the time?" Chloe asked.

 

"That's right," Aubrey affirmed. "Every moment of every day."

 

"Ew, so like even in the shower?" Beca asked.

 

"I thought you liked having some company in the shower," Chloe responded with a flirty wink, nudging elbows with Beca.

 

"What?!" Amy, CR, Stacie, and Flo all asked in near unison.

 

"Dude!" Beca exclaimed, her face turning scarlet. "I told you to never bring that up ever again!"

 

Chloe shrugged.

 

"So you showered together?" Stacie asked, unable to resist getting the full story.

 

“Totes!” Chloe answered at the same time Beca insisted, “No!”

 

"No," Beca insisted again. "That's... gross. I mean, not that Chloe is gross because she's not. Obviously. But no, no, we didn't shower together per se, we just..."

 

Aubrey sighed heavily. "We don't have six hours to stand here and listen to you unpack your sexual awakening, hobbit."

 

Beca lunged at Aubrey, while Chloe held Beca back. "Let me go!" Beca hissed, livid with anger as she tried desperately to wriggle free of Chloe's grasp.

 

"Stop," Chloe scolded. "She doesn't mean anything."

 

"Or does she?" Stacie pondered aloud, further fueling Beca's fire.

 

"Let me go, Chlo! So help me, I'm gonna-" Beca growled as she continued trying to wrestle out of Chloe's strong hold over Beca.

 

"Fight, fight fight!" Amy started yelling, pounding her fist in the air and further inciting Beca.

 

"For the love of God, all of you just shut up!" Aubrey screamed, hiccupping in the process.

 

"Oh no, duck and cover, pitches," CR warned. A puke shower was most imminent.

 

Aubrey hiccupped several more times before getting herself under control. Meanwhile, the other girls fell silent, waiting to see if Aubrey's lid was going to blow.

 

"Okay," Aubrey said, her voice stern, but barely above a whisper. "Aside from bathroom activities," Aubrey continued, cutting her eyes aggressively over at Beca, "You will spend every moment with the Bella I pair you up with. No ands, ifs, or buts. Amy?"

 

"Yes sir?" Amy asked, her voice quivering with fear.

 

"You and Lilly are going to be paired up until this passes."

 

Lilly nodded silently in understanding, while Amy shuffled across the room to stand with her new buddy.

 

"Flo?" Aubrey continued. "You and Cynthia Rose are going to pair up. Next, we have Jessica and Ashley. Where are they?"

 

"We're literally standing right in front of you," Ashley offered dryly.

 

"Right, well the two of you are going to stick together."

 

"Sounds about right," Jessica observed.

 

"Chlo?" Aubrey asked.

 

"Yeah?"

 

"The hobbit is your ball and chain for the time being."

 

"Hey!" Beca objected with a scowl while Chloe grinned to herself.

 

"Aye, aye," Chloe agreed cheerfully, linking arms with Beca.

 

"And Beca?" Aubrey asked. "You keep her safe or I will literally murder you."

 

"Poor choice of words, considering there is actually a murderer on the loose," Beca shot back aggressively.

 

"And if something happens to my best friend, there'll be two murderers," Aubrey challenged, meeting Beca's eyes. Both girls stared silently at one another for several seconds, not breaking eye contact. Finally, Beca relented and looked away.

 

"Fine," Beca seethed, relenting to Aubrey's authority. "I'll never lose sight of her."

 

"Very good," Aubrey answered with a curt nod.

 

Chloe, meanwhile, was grinning ear to ear. Constant togetherness with Beca? Chloe couldn't imagine better luck if she tried. Well, of course, it would have technically been luckier if there were not a serial killer on the loose. I mean, lives had been unnecessarily lost. Chloe frowned somewhat while guilt set in over her initial giddiness of being paired up with Beca.

 

"Um, excuse me, but I think you forgot one?" Stacie asked, irritated.

 

"No, I didn't," Aubrey answered. "You're with me."

 

A snicker passed between Amy and Beca at Stacie's misfortune. Stacie, it appeared, did not take this turn of events as a misfortune at all, but rather, seemed thrilled at the prospect of spending all her time with the new house mom.

 

"Think you can handle seeing so much of me?" Stacie asked in a sultry voice, throwing in a wink for good measure.

 

Aubrey's face turned light pink, Beca noticed. Swallowing, Aubrey answered unevenly, "It's my job."

 

Later that evening, Beca had moved into her new room with Chloe. Aside from the curfew and buddy system, Aubrey had laid out several other rules. No parties or consumption of alcohol outside of the house. It impaired judgment and invited disaster, Aubrey reasoned. No giving out phone numbers or personal information to strangers. And finally, mandatory dinners at the Bella house each night at six o'clock sharp, where after mandatory a-capella practice would commence from seven to eight thirty each night. A murderer on the loose did not excuse ritual and practice, Aubrey reasoned.

 

"This is actually insane," Beca huffed, plopping down on her new bed in her new bedroom. "Like, indescribably insane."

 

"She's just trying to keep us safe," Chloe responded gently, coming over to sit down next to Beca on her bed.

 

"By parading around like a prison warden on a power trip?"

 

"Okay, I think you're overreacting."

 

"It's like we're trapped in Satan's dollhouse."

 

"Okay, now I know you're overreacting," Chloe responded, trying to quell the humor from her voice. "Do you want a backrub? You seem tense."

 

"Do I?" Beca asked rhetorically.

 

"Mmmhmmm," Chloe answered, as her fingers found Beca's shoulders.

 

Beca immediately relaxed into Chloe's touch, allowing the older girl to continue her massage. Beca would never understand how it was that Chloe gave the best massages on earth. Seriously, the girl was seriously gifted.

 

"How's that, Becs?" Chloe asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

 

"Mmmmmmmphffffff," Beca replied with an involuntary moan, deep from the back of her throat.

 

"Oh, God," Beca immediately recoiled from Chloe's touch, shooting straight up in bed as she silently cursed herself for her inadvertent moan.

 

Chloe giggled while Beca tried to hide the embarrassment from showing in her face.

 

"That good, huh?" Chloe asked with a playful gleam in her eyes.

 

"Not a word," Beca ordered, pointing her finger at Chloe.

 

"What about a moan?" Chloe fired back, a shit eating grin spreading across her face.

 

"Why are you… why do you do this to me?" Beca asked aloud, mostly to herself, as she stood up and ran her fingers through her hair.

 

"Make you moan like we're having sex?" Chloe elaborated, knowing fully well what sort of response this would elicit from Beca.

 

"Dude!" Beca exclaimed loud enough for the whole house to hear. "Don't... talk about us having sex. It's super weird.”

 

"I kind of dig the thought of making you moan for me, Becs,” Chloe reasoned with a flirty wink.

 

"For the love of God, Chlo. We are not having this conversation," Beca shot back sternly, pursing her lips together and trying desperately to keep her breathing under control. Why was it incredibly hot all of a sudden? Beca could feel herself starting to sweat as her lower gut tightened. Shit. Chloe. Beca hated that she kind of loved when Chloe teased her like this.

 

"Oh, come on, Becs," Chloe reasoned, feigning seriousness. "With us practically tied to one another for the foreseeable future, we're bound to figure these things out eventually."

 

"Jesus Christ," Beca muttered under her breath, her face now a scarlet red.

 

Chloe smirked. She knew she had bested Beca. "I think we're really going to discover everything about each other over the next weeks," Chloe continued, grabbing Beca's hand and pulling her down on the bed next to her.

 

"Do you really think it'll take weeks to catch this psycho?" Beca asked, while Chloe laced their fingers together. Beca was floundering, desperately trying to steer the conversation in any other direction. If Chloe kept talking like this… well, it was really confusing to Beca.

 

"I don't know," Chloe answered honestly. "I hope not."

 

"Me too. It's scary, you know?"

 

Chloe nodded solemnly. "I do."

 

"Like he could be anyone. He could be anywhere."

 

"That's the scariest part," Chloe agreed.

 

"Like, he could be hiding under our house right now," Beca continued.

 

Chloe shuddered. "No."

 

"He could be brandishing a large knife and hiding under our house."

 

"Becs, stop!" Chloe exclaimed, pushing Beca's shoulder.

 

Smirking, Beca continued, "He might be waiting until we go to sleep and in the middle of the night-"

 

"Beca!" Chloe cried, pushing Beca over on bed.

 

"I'm just saying, he-"

 

"Stop!" Chloe yelled, climbing on top of Beca and clamping her hand over Beca's mouth.

 

"MMMMMMM!" Beca exhaled a muffled scream into Chloe's palm as she tried to wriggle from Chloe's hold. Chloe was now straddling Beca, who was stuck on her back, defenseless against Chloe.

 

Before matters could escalate further, Chloe and Beca's bedroom door flew open, Aubrey appearing at the doorway, with Stacie poking her head behind Aubrey.

 

“What are you doing?” Aubrey demanded, her hands on her hips.

 

Chloe and Beca froze in place, becoming incredibly aware of the inappropriate position in which they now found themselves. Beca was on her back in bed and Chloe was straddling her while holding the brunette into place.

 

“Nothing,” both girls answered in unison.

 

Shit, Beca thought, this looked really fucking wrong. Beca kneed Chloe gently, urging the older girl off her lap. A moment or two passed before Chloe got the hint that she needed to climb off Beca.

 

“Oh, right,” Chloe said, mostly to herself, as she lifted herself off Beca.

 

"Girls!" Aubrey scolded, a little more gently, "It’s nearly midnight.”

 

"Sorry," Chloe offered sincerely.

 

"Yeah, sorry," Beca muttered, sitting up in bed.

 

Beca and Chloe ended their charade and got ready for bed. Chloe tried not to look as Beca shed her top and threw on a flimsy tank top and boy shorts. Her curves perfectly enunciated her trim body and those garments were hugging Beca in all the right places. Fuck, Beca looked really hot. Beca glanced over at Chloe. Noticing that the older girl was eyeing Beca’s body, her face grew pink as she cut her gaze away from Chloe’s intrusive stare.

 

“Stop,” Beca demanded flatly as she climbed into bed and fumbled with her covers. Beca hoped she convincingly sounded aloof.

 

“Stop what?” Chloe asked a little too innocently.

 

“Staring at me.”

 

“I wasn’t staring. I was… checking you,” Chloe corrected with a grin.

 

“Checking me out? Jesus, that’s somehow worse.”

 

“No, silly! Checking to make sure you weren’t scratched up from our little wrestling match earlier,” Chloe answered easily, slipping her own shirt above her head.

 

Now it was Beca’s turn to stare, as she watched a topless Chloe wander around their room looking for her pajamas. Chloe was wearing a lacy black bra, accentuating the attractive curves of her body. Blushing, Beca cut her eyes up to the ceiling, refusing to look down until she was certain that Chloe was fully clad. Living with someone so… uninhibited was going to be challenging to say the least.

 

Chloe climbed into bed, turning off the lamp situated between their two beds.

 

“Night, Becs,” Chloe mumbled breezily, turning over in bed.

 

Beca swallowed loudly. Suddenly, it was so… dark in here. And it was nighttime. And did she mention how dark it was?

 

"Chlo?" Beca whispered across the room.

 

"Hm?" A sleepy hum replied.

 

"Are you awake?" Beca asked.

 

Chloe chuckled tiredly before answering, "Yes, Becs. I'm awake."

 

"Good. Because I, uh, didn't want you to be freaked out about anything I said earlier. You know, about the killer who definitely isn't hiding underneath our house. I'm sorry I said it."

 

"That's okay," Chloe whispered back sincerely. "I had kind of forgotten about it, to be honest."

 

"Okay, good," Beca answered.

 

"Good," Chloe parroted with a tired smile, rolling over in bed to go back to sleep.

 

"Chlo?" Beca asked again, after several beats of silence.

 

"Yes, Becs?"

 

"Because you know, if you were freaked out, I would understand. Like, if sharing a bed with me somehow made you, I don't know... less terrified of getting stabbed in the night..." Beca trailed off.

 

Chloe bit her bottom lip to stop her growing grin. "Are you trying to tell me you're scared, Becs?" Chloe teased.

 

"No!" Beca protested. "I was just saying if you were, that I... You know, I'd come over there and… it would feel less scary. For you, I mean."

 

"Uh huh," Chloe responded, playing along. "So you're saying that if I was terrified out of my mind that you would come sleep with me tonight?"

 

"Yes, that's exactly it," Beca agreed.

 

"Right. Well, I guess I'm pretty lucky I've got you here, huh?" Chloe mused.

 

"Yeah, super lucky."

 

"Because, you know, I'm really freaked out," Chloe continued. "Please come sleep with me, Becs?" Chloe asked, her voice dripping with innocence.

 

Chloe thought about calling Beca out again on her lie, she really did. But calling Beca out on her lie risked Beca proving her bravery by spending the night in her own bed. And selfishly, Chloe really wanted Beca in her bed, even if platonically. Chloe loved having the other girl close to her, smelling her hair, feeling her warmth. Chloe could uneasily admit that she would do just about anything to be with Beca. Even lying about being scared so that Beca would sleep with her in bed.

 

No sooner had the words fallen out of Chloe's mouth, Beca was pulling back the covers and climbing into bed next to Chloe. "Scoot," Beca ordered.

 

Chloe did as she was told, making room for the other girl in the small twin sized bed. Both girls settled into a comfortable position, realizing quickly the lack of room in the bed severely limited mobility.

 

"Lord, there's like no room in here," Beca observed as she laboriously flipped over in bed so that she was spooning Chloe.

 

"All the better for cuddles," Chloe answered, wrapping her arms tightly around Beca's midsection. "It's a good thing you make a comfortable little spoon," Chloe continued, nestling her head into Beca's hair.

 

Beca exhaled, finally feeling at ease for the first time that evening. She couldn't explain why, but the encompassing embrace of her best friend was incredibly comforting. Beca felt safe in Chloe's arms. Which was weird because human contact normally made Beca feel the opposite of safe.

 

Beca and Chloe fell asleep in one another’s embrace, not awoken until Chloe heard the familiar buzz of her phone. A new text message. Chloe stirred, her eyes fluttering open as she became aware of her surroundings. Beca was snuggled up next to her, looking adorable as her eyes twitched in her sleep. Chloe followed the narrow ridge of Beca’s nose to her mouth, which was pressed tightly together. Chloe smiled tiredly, placing a small kiss on Beca’s shoulder. Sleeping with Beca felt like the most natural thing in the world.

 

The phone buzzed again. Chloe considered not answering it. What was the worst that could happen? Chloe stole another glace at Beca, who looked so completely beautiful in the moonlight. Right, Beca. Chloe reached for her phone and read the message that she had been anticipating with dread. Chloe blinked a few times and swallowed hard as her stomach pooled with panic. She had been hoping not to receive a text message tonight. She had been hoping this would all go away. But she knew what was on the line here. Either she played the part that was required of her, or else. She had no choice.

 

Quietly, Chloe slipped out of bed. Taking caution to not wake Beca, Chloe quietly slipped on her shoes and pulled on a black jacket. She did not return to the house for another hour.

 

As Chloe quietly entered the bedroom, Beca stirred.

 

“Where were you?” Beca mumbled sleepily.

 

Shit. Beca was awake.

 

“Nowhere. The bathroom. Go back to sleep, Becs,” Chloe whispered.

 

“Why did you need shoes and a jacket for the bathroom?” Beca asked, a little bit more coherently than her first question.

 

“I… get cold sometimes,” Chloe lied through her teeth with a grimace. Chloe hated lying.

 

“Bullshit,” Beca accused, sitting up in bed.

 

Chloe said nothing. Beca wasn’t wrong.

 

Beca cleared her throat. "There's a question I really wanna ask you, but I'm really afraid of what the answer's gonna be," Beca admitted.

 

"Then maybe you shouldn't ask it," Chloe warned, taking several steps closer to Beca and sitting down gingerly at the foot of their shared bed.

 

Beca nodded and sighed, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. "But, I uh- also can't not ask it. It's. I have to know. You didn't... like, you know... I can't exactly ask this without making it sound like I'm accusing you. But I'm not. I'm just... confused."

 

"Becs, I think it's okay to be confused. We're all confused right now." Boy, were they ever. Chloe had about ten million questions running through her head right now. She didn’t understand what she was doing or why she was doing it.

 

"Your disappearances are worrying me," Beca admitted. This was about as succinct as she could be.

 

Now it was Chloe's turn to sigh as she averted her eyes from Beca to hide the fact they were welling up with tears. Guilt didn't begin to explain how she felt in this moment. "You shouldn't be worried for me," Chloe choked out.

 

"But I am," Beca challenged firmly, yet with a tone of softness that was unusual for Beca. Beca shuffled out from underneath the bed covers and crawled to the foot of the bed to sit next to Chloe. "You're not telling me something."

 

"Do you trust me?" Chloe whispered, staring straight ahead as she blinked back tears.

 

"Well, yeah," Beca admitted without a second thought, glancing over to Chloe with incredible concern, her dark blue eyes growing wide.

 

"Do you believe me when I say that I guard you...I mean, the Bellas, above my own life?" Chloe continued.

 

"Oddly, I believe that entirely," Beca affirmed.

 

"I need that to be enough for you right now," Chloe pleaded, not daring to look into Beca's beautiful face. It would only make her cry.

 

Beca sighed, defeated. "Fine," Beca agreed reluctantly. "But you're not leaving me again."

 

Chloe stole a glance, raising her eyebrows at Beca.

 

"I mean it. Not ever again. Aubrey put us together for a reason. I'm not letting you slip away from me.” Beca was resolute.

 

"But what if-"

 

Beca interrupted. "It's not happening, Beale. I don't know what kind of issues are going on, but if they're so important you have to leave, you're taking me with you from now on. I'm not losing you."

 

Chloe nodded. She glanced over at Beca shyly and offered the younger woman a small, but warm grin as several tears spilled down her cheeks. Chloe wasn't really sure if she was sad, scared, happy, or confused at this moment in time. It was probable that a combination of these emotions were present.

 

"Babe," Beca soothed, reaching over and rubbing Chloe's back. Beca surprised even herself over the fact that she had just called Chloe 'babe.' What was this, Beca wondered? Since when was she a comforting person? Beca could not recall one other time in her life when she had consoled another person. Chloe was a special exception, Beca internally reasoned. She wasn't sure why, but she defied the norm.

 

“It’s okay,” Beca continued. “We’re gonna get through this, I promise.”

 

Chloe sniffled, leaning into the crook of Beca’s neck. Beca wrapped her arms around Chloe and rested her head on top of Chloe’s.

 

“I’m gonna be here with you, no matter what,” Beca promised.

 

In this moment, Chloe’s heart felt overwhelmingly full. Leaning into Beca’s warm embrace and inhaling the younger girl’s intoxicating scent caused Chloe to nearly admit something she wasn’t ready to spring on Beca. “Thanks, Becs. I love… that you’re my friend.”

 

Beca thought about teasing Chloe for her lack of regard over personal boundaries, she really did, but decided against it. Subconsciously, Beca was reeling for a way to make this current intimacy with Chloe into some sort of joke so she didn’t have to address it seriously. Of course, Beca didn’t realize that her feelings for Chloe ran far deeper than she had let herself realize.

 

Luckily for Beca, Chloe sensed Beca beginning to tense up and cleared the air. Unlucky for Beca, Chloe chose to lighten the mood by saying, “Thanks for everything, babe.” Prompted by Beca’s silence, Chloe continued. “I think we should go back to sleep now, babe,” Chloe finished, pointedly emphasizing the last word.

 

Beca groaned. Of course Chloe was making fun of her earlier use of that pet name. “I’m never talking to you again,” Beca muttered under her breath as she climbed beneath the covers and settled back into bed.

 

“Suits me,” Chloe shrugged nonchalantly, joining Beca in bed. Chloe readjusted herself several times until she was hugging Beca and resting her head in the crook of Beca’s neck. “You complain a lot.”

 

Beca smiled tiredly. She didn’t know why, but she really liked falling asleep tangled in Chloe’s embrace. She would die before ever admitting this, though.

 

“Becs?” Chloe whispered.

 

The hairs on Beca’s neck stood up, as Chloe’s lips were centimeters from her skin. “What?” Beca whispered back.

 

“I thought you weren’t talking to me ever again?”

 

“I made an exception this once,” Beca admitted with a hint of sarcasm. “Promise it won’t happen again.”

 

“I see,” Chloe replied, going along with the joke. “Well if you won’t talk, will you sing? I just… I’m having trouble falling asleep. It would mean a lot.”

 

Beca pursed her lips together, lamenting at Chloe’s request. “I don’t even know what I’d sing,” Beca muttered back tiredly.

 

“Anything, literally anything that comes to mind,” Chloe offered hastily, glad that Beca hadn’t flat-out denied her request.

 

A few long moments passed where neither girl said anything and the only sound Chloe could hear was Beca’s steady heartbeat, as Chloe’s head was now pressed against Beca’s chest and her arms were now snaked around Beca’s torso.

 

Finally, surprising even herself, Beca sang out, softly at first, but louder once she knew she had met the approval of Chloe.

 

"'Cause I don't wanna lose you now

I'm lookin' right at the other half of me

The vacancy that sat in my heart

Is a space that now you hold

Show me how to fight for now

And I'll tell you, baby, it was easy

Comin' back into you once I figured it out

You were right here all along

 

It's like you're my mirror

My mirror staring back at me

I couldn't get any bigger

With anyone else beside of me

And now it's clear as this promise

That we're making two reflections into one

'Cause it's like you're my mirror

My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me."

 

“Becs,” Chloe whispered into Beca’s chest.

 

“Hm?” Beca hummed.

 

“That was perfect.” Chloe placed a small kiss to Beca’s collarbone.

 

“Anytime,” Beca relied automatically until she registered Chloe’s kiss. Her skin tingled pleasantly and a burning sensation swept across her body as her mind reeled over the moment.

 

Beca wanted to say she could shake the feeling, but she couldn’t. Worse yet, Beca realized that she didn’t want to shake the feeling. As Chloe peacefully faded into sleep, Beca was left awake as her mind spun circles around itself. What did this mean? Why had Chloe snuck out of the house tonight? Why did Beca sing to her? Why that song? What about the kiss?

 

Everything was changing. Beca didn’t yet realize it, but everything with Chloe would forever be different after this moment. Beca had officially caught feelings for Chloe, whether or not she consciously realized.

 

The next morning passed rather uneventfully. The Bellas enjoyed their typical Saturday morning breakfast. Aubrey and Beca bickered over the breakfast table while Stacie and Chloe tried to smooth the tension. Amy drank syrup straight from the bottle. Lilly whispered something about swallowing knives while Flo egged her on. CR successfully prevented a trip to the emergency room by wrenching the knives from Flo and Lilly’s hands.

 

Breakfast was followed by a day-long Bella practice. Beca relished the time to quietly work on her mixes while Chloe led the rest of the gang in choreography. By the end of the afternoon, the girls were physically, mentally, and emotionally tired. Beca was looking forward to nothing apart from curling up alone in bed and working on some mixes. Aubrey, it seemed, had other plans.

 

“Okay, ladies, we’re having Bella night tonight,” Aubrey announced to the group at the end of Bella practice.

 

“What does that mean?” Amy asked suspiciously.

 

“It means we’re doing something fun tonight,” Aubrey answered optimistically.

 

“We’re going to bed early?” Beca asked sarcastically.

 

“We’re starting a fight club?” Flo asked with innocent cheer.

 

“We’re having sex?” Stacie asked suggestively, winking at Aubrey.

 

“No to all of those,” Aubrey responded sternly, trying to reclaim her demeanor after Stacie’s comment. “We’re doing something together,” Aubrey continued, leering at Beca, “That doesn’t involve fighting or sex.”

 

“So what is it?” Chloe asked.

 

“Amy, Flo?” Aubrey asked.

 

“Huh?” Amy asked.

 

“You two are roommates now. What better way to bond than planning a Bella night together? The rules are simple. We can do anything… that doesn’t involve us leaving the house. Oh, and you have two hours to plan it.”

 

Two hours later, the girls came downstairs to discover with horror the night that Amy and Flo had planned. Maybe forcing Amy and Lilly to bunk together wasn't such a good idea after all, everyone could silently admit. Further, delegating activity night to Amy and Lilly was also a mistake. As it turned out, Amy and Lilly had planned a séance for their Bella night activity.

 

"This is idiotic," Beca and Aubrey muttered in perfect unison.

 

"It appears we agree about something," Beca pointed out with a chuckle. Anyone could agree that a séance was a horrible bonding activity, particularly under these circumstances.

 

"Ah, come on. We have to do this. In the name of fun!" Amy protested.

 

"This is fun to you?" Aubrey asked incredulously.

 

"So much," Lilly whispered intensely while Amy nodded her head up and down like a bobble headed doll.

 

"Yeah, and you made us plan Bella night so you have to follow our plans..." Amy protested.

 

“So what do we do, Amy?” Chloe asked good-naturedly, despite the fact that holding a séance was a little more than creepy.

 

“We all sit in a circle like so,” Amy instructed.

 

The nine girls complied with Amy’s request, sitting down in a large circle in the middle of the living room. Sitting in the middle of the circle were scatterings of various spices and flowers, along with three black candles. Lilly procured a lighter and brought the three candles to life.

 

The Bellas sat in silence for a few moments, watching the fire catch the wicks of the candles. This was, by far, one of the weirder nights the girls had ever shared.

 

“What’s the point of this?” Stacie asked with some skepticism.

 

“It’s to ward away the evil spirits,” Amy explained, as though the explanation were totally obvious. “For it to work properly, all the people in the house have to be void of evil. So… we’ll do, right?”

 

Beca and Chloe exchanged confused glances. Was Amy on crack? Why on earth were they spending their evening participating in a séance.

 

Before anyone could say another word, a loud creak emanated from the depths of the Bella house, as if the house itself was speaking. Aubrey practically leapt up.

 

“Don’t!” Amy warned, yanking Aubrey back down to her seat within the circle. “Uh, Lilly told me it’s bad luck to leave the circle before the end of a séance.”

 

Lilly nodded ominously. The girls swallowed hard, trying to push the loud and mysterious creaking sound away from their thoughts. Aubrey rolled her eyes, both irritated with Amy’s nonsense, but also a little bit scared of the potential consequences, as she settled back down in her seat.

 

Lilly began muttering something incoherent, though Beca suspected it was some sort of incantation. The group sat silently and uncomfortably, waiting for Lilly to finish. After what seemed to be a minute or two of indecipherable whispers, Lilly concluded and raised her head to meet the eyes of the other girls.

 

The only sentence Beca could here was Lilly's concluding thought. Lilly whispered, "We face evil forces in this house."

 

"Uh, anyone else want to go. Please?" Beca begged impatiently.

 

Chloe rubbed Beca's arm reassuringly.

 

"She's right," Aubrey affirmed, surprising everyone. Beca would have figured that Aubrey would be the last person in the world to encourage such nonsense. "Legend has it that evil has shaken this house to its core."

 

"But this is a newly built house?" Flo asked with confusion.

 

"It's a newly refurbished house," Chloe corrected.

 

Beca spat out, "Wait, what?"

 

"It's a newly refurbished house," Aubrey agreed. "Back in the eighties and nineties, this used to be the Bellas' house. That is, until..."

 

"Until what?" Amy asked.

 

Aubrey sighed. "Until something awful happened back in ninety-six. After that, it remained vacant until this year."

 

"And no one has told us that we're living in a haunted house, why?" CR asked with panic.

 

"It's not haunted, per se," Chloe clarified.

 

"Well it doesn't sound not haunted," Beca exclaimed, unable to contain her irritation.

 

"It's probably not haunted." Chloe was trying her best to sound optimistic.

 

"Probably?" Stacie, Flo, Jessica, Ashley, and CR cried in unison.

 

Beca interjected, "Okay, can someone tell me with certainty whether or not I'm currently living in a haunted house?"

 

"Becs," Chloe soothed, wrapping the younger girl in a hug. "Don't be scared, okay? I'll protect you."

 

"Thanks, but this doesn't answer my concern," Beca whined, wriggling herself free from Chloe, even though she was secretly comforted by her touch. Of course, she would sooner die than admit this to anyone.

 

"Just relax and listen to your girlfriend, eh Short Stack?" Amy suggested to Beca.

 

Had Beca not been terrified out of her mind, she would have swiftly responded with a threat to Amy's life for calling Chloe her girlfriend. Fuck that, she was going to respond with a swift threat to Amy's life for calling Chloe her girlfriend.

 

"Hey!" Beca exclaimed, turning on Amy. "My girlfriend... I mean, my Chloe, I mean... Jesus Christ, Chloe... doesn't own me and I will actually walk in the kitchen and spite eat the rest of your cheesecake if-"

 

"Becs, is this really necessary?" Chloe asked, grabbing Beca's hands in her own hands, forcing Beca to look the older girl in the eyes. Chloe's infectious gleam immediately dissipated Beca's scowl.

 

"I'm sorry," Beca exhaled, not breaking eye contact with Chloe.

 

"Whipppppppped," Amy whispered in a sing-songy voice, "Like the icing on my cheesecake."

 

Stacie laughed, earning herself a glare from Beca. "What? It's true!" Chloe suppressed a grin, while Stacie continued, "I mean this in the nicest way, but Chloe can get you to do anything."

 

"Woah. Not true," Beca shot back, pointing her finger at Stacie.

 

"She's right, Stace," Chloe reluctantly agreed with Beca. Just as Beca's face was relaxing into a self-justified smirk, Chloe pinched Beca's arm and with a wink, quickly added, "If I could get this one to do anything, I promise you, we would not be down here right now."

 

"Dude!" Beca barked raucously as the entire group of girls erupted into cat-calls and whistles.

 

Beca's face turned scarlet with embarrassment. It did not escape Beca that her stomach was turning itself in knots while her head spun circles around itself. Why was Chloe doing this? Worse yet, why was Beca having these types of feelings in her stomach while her friend teased about hooking up together?

 

"Do you guys want to hear the story about what happened to the Bellas in ninety-six or no?" Aubrey asked, her voice sounding bored and tinged with annoyance.

 

"Please. Anything but this," Beca begged, recognizing the hypocrisy of her former words because yes, she would rather listen to horrifying ghost stories than endure the sexual confusion brought on by her friends' teasing.

 

Lilly's face lit up with joy as she scooted several inches to Aubrey who, cleared her throat and begun her story.

 

"Back in the early nineties, the Bellas were in a slump. Their set lists were horrible, their choreography was even worse, and girls were unfocused. The ragtag team of losers needed a win, and they needed it badly."

 

"Kind of like us last year," Amy mused out loud.

 

"Well in ninety-five, along came a girl by the name of Tammy Cobbledick."

 

"Unfortunate name," Beca scoffed.

 

"Unfortunate look, too," Amy added. "Remember, Short Stack? She's the girl in that portrait in our foyer with the mullet."

 

"Oh yeah!" Beca remembered, smiling over her prior shared moment with Amy.

 

"That's right, Fat Amy," Aubrey praised. "The portrait is located in our foyer. Those eleven girls turned their luck around that year."

 

"What's this Tammy girl got to do with anything?" CR asked, scrunching her eyebrows together.

 

"Well, legend has it that she sold her soul for accolade," Aubrey whispered ominously, causing the group of women to lean in to hear her continued tale. "She sold her soul in this very house, by killing talented people and using their blood to absorb their talent. And after that, Tammy was a changed woman. She shed her mousy look like a girl in a nineties movie and suddenly became attractive. She took control of the Bellas and immediately, the girls became practical celebrities overnight. Under her lead, they were winning everything. Nothing could stop them. They were on their way to clenching an ICCA win. Until..."

 

"Until what?" Amy yelled, chomping at the bit to hear the end of the story.

 

Aubrey swallowed, taking her time to meet the individual gazes of the other nine women. "Until her plan backfired. You see, the more the Bellas won, the more Tammy kept worshiping the devil to claim more and more glory. She was a woman possessed. None of the other Bellas claim to have known it, but Tammy would create elaborate séances, much like ours here tonight. She would light candles and whisper incantations, begging the spirits to bestow her with glory. One night, Tammy entered a trance that lasted for six hours. During that time, Tammy sat here in this room, with candles burning around her. Eventually, a candle fell down and this living room caught on fire. Snapping out of the trance, Tammy is thought to have called the fire department. The department arrived in time to save the house, but not all of the lives were saved."

 

"Wait, so all of the Bellas burned to death?" Stacie asked with extreme concern, horribly bothered by the fact that Aubrey had seemingly turned a horrible disaster into a Friday night scary story.

 

"Not exactly," Aubrey answered, dispelling Stacie's concerns somewhat. "Most of girls made it out alive, but one girl was never located. Tammy was never seen or heard from again. And the police or firemen never found her body. Legend has it, that she died in that fire and her spirit roams this house, waiting to attach itself to anyone who can bring her the fame and glory Tammy so desperately craved."

 

By this point, Beca was clinging desperately to Chloe and her head was burrowed in the crook of Chloe's neck. Most of the other girls only fared marginally better than Beca, as they wore varying looks of shock on their faces. Aubrey looked around at the group of girls and smiled to herself, satisfied for having successfully narrated her horror story. The only Bella who didn't look scared was Chloe, who was preoccupied with a balled up Beca sitting in her lap.

 

"Not a fan of scary stories, babe?" Chloe hummed lightly into Beca's ear.

 

Beca murmured noncommittally while Chloe hugged Beca tighter, relishing the feeling of Beca in her arms.

 

"So you both knew about this and never told us until now?" Stacie asked to Chloe and Aubrey.

 

Aubrey shrugged as she failed to bite back a grin. "You should have met our predecessor, Alice," Aubrey answered with a dry chuckle. "You would've believed me when I told you that she used this story to shamelessly haze every new batch of Bellas. It scared me the first time I heard it. But by the third time, it got so boring I could anticipate every moment, right down to every one of Alice's dramatic pauses."

 

Chloe added, "She's right. Alice loved telling this story. But that's all it is. None of this is real." Chloe winked for good measure.

 

"And now you're using it to haze us?" Amy asked.

 

"Oh, hardly." Aubrey brushed the idea with a wave of her hand. "You two were the ones wanting to have a scary séance for your Bella night. I was just giving you the best story I had to make your night everything you wanted it to be."

 

Flo piped up, "So this isn't real?"

 

"Not at all," Chloe assured genuinely.

 

"So no Bellas ever lived in this house?" CR asked.

 

Chloe and Aubrey exchanged blank glances, shrugging at one another. "Not that I know of," Aubrey answered honestly.

 

"Yeah, it's kinda just been here... Until it was refurbished this summer," Chloe added.

 

"So why did Alice say this place was haunted?" Stacie asked suspiciously. "The very house where we now live?"

 

"To torture us," Chloe answered easily, as if the answer were already clear. "She picked the scariest looking abandoned house she could find, I'm sure."

 

Before the conversation could continue, the doorbell rung. Each of the girls remained frozen in place.

 

“I’ll get it!” Flo offered, running to the front door.

 

Chloe and Beca, forgetting about their earlier tension, looked at one another nervously. Beca remembered the last time they had received a mysterious knock on the door. Flo, as it turned out, did not remember, because she eagerly swung the door open and picked up a small blue box sitting on the doorstep.

 

“Don’t open it,” Beca warned. “Let’s leave it and call the police.”

 

“Aw, Short Stack, it’s a birthday present,” Amy dismissed with a wave of her hand. “See? There’s a bow on it, which means it’s for your birthday, so we should definitely open it.”

 

“Yeah. That does nothing to dispel my concern,” Beca responded dryly.

 

“Well, at least we know it’s not another person who’s been murdered,” Stacie considered with a shrug. “No one could fit in a cake box.”

 

“Unless they’ve been ground up or cremated,” Lilly corrected with a whisper.

 

“If you’re not gonna open it, I will,” Amy decided, grabbing the box from Flo’s hands and tearing through the blue wrapping paper.

 

Amy opened the cake box, which must have been tripped by a wire, because the act of opening the box caused the chorus of Britney Spears’ “Piece of Me” to begin playing on repeat. Amy frowned and stared with confusion down at the package’s contents.

 

“I'm Mrs. Lifestyles of the rich and famous  
(You want a piece of me)  
I'm Mrs. Oh my God that Britney's shameless!  
(You want a piece of me)  
I'm Mrs. Extra! Extra! This just in  
(You want a piece of me)  
I'm Mrs. she's too big now she's too thin  
(You want a piece of me)”

 

"What are they?" Amy asked, squinting suspiciously at the ten little oblong cakes, as the innocuous chorus played over again.

 

“Lady fingers, I think,” Chloe answered with curiosity, furrowing her eyebrows and peering into the box.

 

After enough time had passed during which the girls listened to chorus once or twice, CR mused, “What is this all about?”

 

“It’s someone who wants a piece of Beca,” Stacie supplied.

 

"Clever," Aubrey grunted, taking a cautious peek into the box. Indeed, there were ten yellow lady fingers sitting in the box.

 

“A secret admirer?” Flo asked with excitement. Flo loved surprises. “Who do you think it is?”

 

“Probably that girl from Evermoist,” Amy mused.

 

“Or the scary German security guard,” Flo countered.

 

“Or-” Amy began, before Chloe cut them all off.

 

“We get it!” Chloe exclaimed, a little more incensed than she intended. “Beca’s a hot commodity!”

 

Beca’s face grew read. “Can we please move on?”

 

"Yeah. Great, I'm starving," Amy exclaimed, pulling out one of the lady fingers with excitement.

 

CR shrugged. "Well, if she's doing it, I'm doing it, too.”

 

The box of sweets was quickly passed around to each girl.

 

"A toast," Chloe proposed with cheer, raising her lady finger ceremoniously in the air. "To Beca’s birthday!"

 

Aubrey was the first girl to bite into the lady finger, nearly choking in the process. There was something hard in the middle of these cookies, Aubrey quickly discovered. Aubrey gagged loudly, spitting out the contents of the cookie on the floor.

 

"What is it?" Chloe asked with concern.

 

Aubrey finished coughing, glancing down at the floor, where a crumbled lady finger sat, encasing something much harder and more solid. Something that didn't seem edible.

 

"I bit something hard," Aubrey trailed off, squinting at the floor. What was that thing in the middle of the lady finger?

 

From across the room, a loud spit could be heard, followed by a finger-like object spewing across the room. Amy, it appeared, was the second Bella to discover an inedible object inside her lady finger. The object landed squarely in Beca's lap.

 

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Amy screamed loudly, once the object had left her mouth.

 

"What the... FLYING FINGER!?" Beca screamed, reaching nearly the decimal Amy as she dropped the lady finger from her own hand. Standing up, the detached finger fell from Beca's lap and landed on the floor.

 

"FINGER?" Aubrey shrieked, her eyes bulging out of her head. "FINGER?! I ATE A FINGER?" Aubrey was positively hysteric.

 

"There's fingers in the lady fingers?" CR yelled, dropping her lady finger like it contained a plague.

 

"Woah," Lilly whispered incredulously, her voice totally drowned out by the various shrieks, particularly those of Aubrey and Amy. Lilly studied her own lady finger closely.

 

"AN UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN FINGER WAS IN MY MOUTH!" Amy whined loudly as her face scrunched up.

 

“Okay, let’s calm down,” Flo suggested, trying to placate the inconsolable group of women. “I’m sure we can identify the finger. Who do we know without any fingers?”

 

The group of Bellas became momentarily quiet as they stared at Flo with unreadable expressions. The silence was short lived, however, as Aubrey resumed screaming at the top of her lungs.

 

"I ATE A MOTHERFUCKING FINGER!" Aubrey bellowed, throwing her head back in the air. No other Bella had heard Aubrey drop the 'f' bomb before.

 

"Who bakes dead human fingers into food?" Jessica asked.

 

"Who even has dead human fingers?" Ashley responded.

 

"OH MY GOD, I DON'T EVEN LIKE CHICKEN FINGERS!" Aubrey wailed, hiccupping as she unsuccessfully battled the inevitable eruption. 

 

Suddenly and without any warning, Aubrey began spewing vomit like a fire hose, dousing the entire living room. This made matters worse, as Aubrey’s puke shower caused several of the other Bellas to become physically ill, as well.

 

"Oh my God, this is truly tragic," Chloe panicked, pacing the floor back and forth while the other Bellas melted down around her. "We're not even safe in our own home."

 

Beca averted her eyes from the detached human finger laying by her feet and stood up. Someone needed to call the police. Before they all drowned in Aubrey’s vomit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so... we're in a weird place, especially with the fingers! We've already got a couple of the pieces in place, but the coming chapters will continue revealing who is behind this all. I'm loving your guesses, by the way! You all are observing a lot!


	4. Chapter 4- Back To Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friends! I'm so sorry it has taken me this long to update this story. I promise I'm not going to let this story go unfinished. I've had a lot going on in my life and to be honest, I kind of lost myself for a little bit. I kind of forgot some of the things that make me feel happy and I'm trying to reclaim it all and figure out what any of the past months mean.
> 
> Anyhow, I'm back and we're going to keep moving along. I will sincerely try to keep up with this story better because I'm SO into it. I hope you all are, too. Enjoy!!

CHAPTER 4- BACK TO BLACK

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************  
Beca was zoned out and focused on her laptop, creating a mix that would work for the Bellas' next tournament competition. She didn't notice when the bedroom door opened and closed behind her. She definitely didn't notice when a certain someone walked across the length of the room and leaned right behind Beca's left shoulder, studying Beca's creation with interest. It wasn't until the person rested her hand on Beca's shoulder that Beca's yelped with surprise and leaped out of her chair, her earphones practically yanking her back in the seat.

"What the fuck, dude?" Beca exclaimed, turning around to face none other than Chloe Beale. "What have I told you about sneaking up on me like that?"

"You're so cute when you're all hard at work," Chloe grinned, booping her finger on the tip of Beca's nose.

"Cute isn't exactly what I'm after, Beale," Beca pointed out, pretending to be frustrated over Chloe's interruption.

Chloe smiled her mega-watt smile. The one that made it impossible for Beca not to smile back. Taking a step closer to Beca, Chloe whispered into Beca's ear, "So what are you after?"

Beca rolled her eyes, trying to hide the blush that was forming on her cheeks. Why was Chloe like this? "Well, I was after a solid set-list for the ICCA's."

"Yeah? Well, what about right now?" Chloe hummed into Beca's ear, causing the hairs on her neck to stand up. Chloe slid her hands up Beca's sides as she fully close the physical distance between their bodies.

"Why are you doing this?" Beca asked through gritted teeth.

"Why aren't you stopping me?" Chloe whispered as her hands roamed freely across Beca's back.

Suddenly, Beca's lips were on Chloe's. She wasn't sure who initiated the kiss, but it didn't matter. She kissed Chloe deeper and deeper, desperate for more, as she pushed the girl back on the bed. Every ounce of suppressed desire for the older girl was flooding and controlling every thought and action. Beca needed Chloe, like right now. Beca gave Chloe another chaste kiss to the lips before pulling back and dropping her eyes to Chloe's skirt.

Chloe, who was now lying with her back on the bed and propped up on her elbows, nodded, giving Beca all the consent she needed to continue. Suddenly, Beca had dropped to her knees and was pushing Chloe's skirt up. Beca used her tongue and swiped across the folds of Chloe's core. After hearing a long, satisfied groan, Beca repeated the action again and again. Chloe's hips began bucking as her body ached for the friction that would bring her release.

As Beca continued licking and sucking at Chloe's center, she felt the older girl begin to tense up. She was close. Beca pulled back, wanting nothing more than to see the look of unbridled ecstasy on Chloe's face. Using her first and middle finger, Beca easily slipped into Chloe's folds and began thrusting, slowly at first until she built up a rhythm. Chloe panted, riding Beca's fingers to release as she moaned loudly.

Just as Chloe was climaxing, a ghost-like figure materialized out of nowhere from the bedroom wall. Beca squinted. The mysterious figure appeared to be a person. The person was wearing a black cloak and the face was concealed. And was that… a knife?

"Chloe!" Beca called out in warning, momentarily forgetting that Chloe was in the throes of an orgasm.

The cloaked figure was creeping closer to Chloe and Beca as it began brandishing its knife.

"Chlo! Chlo!" Beca called out again, over and over as the cloaked figure moved closer. It was useless. Chloe was screaming loudly as she rode out the duration of her orgasm.

The hooded figure, who was now standing inches behind where Chloe sat, raised its knife in the air and brought it down in Chloe's back.  
***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

"AH! Beca screamed out loud, jolting awake. "Oh... thank God."

"Were you dreaming there, Becs?" Chloe asked lightly.

Beca had been napping for close to two hours by this point. It was nearly time for the group to leave the Bella house and head over to the quad. Tonight, a vigil was to occur for the two fallen students.

"Yeah. Nightmare," Beca responded gruffly, shaking her head as her mind coalesced with reality. Fuck, that dream had felt really... real.

"Ohhh, scary," Chloe commented with interest, plopping down on the bed next to Beca. "What happened?"

Sitting up in bed, Beca bode her time. There were certainly parts of that dream that Chloe did not need to know about. The fading, yet still-present, throbbing between her thighs was an indication. "Nothing."

"Oh, come on!" Chloe shook Beca's shoulders playfully, looking her squarely in the eyes.

Beca raised her eyebrows at Chloe. Chloe mirrored Beca's actions, raising her eyebrows back at Beca, Beca huffed, realizing that Chloe wasn't going to let this go.

Choosing her words rather carefully, Beca answered, "The two of us were... hanging out... and someone with a knife came up behind you and I tried to tell you but you couldn't hear me over the screaming."

"What screaming?" Chloe questioned, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to keep up with Beca's recount.

"Your screaming," Beca answered automatically and without thinking.

"Why was I screaming?" Chloe asked with confusion.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Beca ducked her head, unsuccessfully trying to hide the blush forming on her cheeks. Chloe's reaction instantaneously changed from confused to elated as she read straight through Beca's embarrassed reaction. Beca had been dreaming about her. In a sexual way.

"Oh my God! Really?" Chloe was practically dying from excitement.

"I'm not having this conversation with you," Beca answered flatly, standing up and turning away from Chloe. Beca desperately wanted to crawl into a hole and die from embarrassment.

"What? It's perfectly natural to have these kinds of dreams, Becs," Chloe explained evenly, as though Beca's dream were nothing but normal. "We all have needs-"

"No," Beca held her hand up to interrupt Chloe. The last thing she wanted right now was a gateway for Chloe to keep talking about the highly embarrassing and deeply personal dream that Beca had just experienced.

Ignoring Beca, Chloe continued, "And it's not like we can help what, or who, we dream about. I mean, of course, I have to believe this dream means something..." Chloe trailed off thoughtfully. "Maybe that you're in need of a good-"

"Please stop," Beca begged, turning around to face Chloe. Beca did not need to hear the end of that thought.

Chloe sighed, apparently restraining herself from finishing her prior thought. Unable to totally drop the subject, however, Chloe gushed, "Did you like it? In the dream I mean?"

"Dude, no!"

"Come on, you can't possibly tell me that you didn't enjoy... all this," Chloe teased, motioning to her body.

Chloe would be blind not to notice that Beca had definitely checked her out a time or two. And Chloe could easily admit that she loved when she had this effect on Beca. I mean, what was so wrong about admitting your attraction to another person? What was so wrong about wanting to explore someone else's body with your body? Chloe's train of thought screeched to a grinding halt by Beca's next comment.

"A masked person materialized out of our bedroom wall and stabbed you in the back," Beca clarified, effectively putting an end to Chloe's line of questioning. Chloe (rightfully) suspected this was intentional.

"Wow. Mood killer," Chloe mused with a small frown.

"You're telling me."

Neither girl said anything for a few moments, while Beca sat on the other twin bed, putting on her shoes. After she finished tying the laces to her shoes, Beca stole a glance at Chloe, who was gazing directly at Beca, a knowing grin plastered on her face.

"Stop thinking about it," Beca accused.

"What tells you I'm thinking about it?" Chloe answered innocently.

"It's the shit-eating grin, mostly."

Chloe winked, throwing Beca into another internal fit of forcing herself to squelch inappropriate thoughts and feelings.

"God, you're like the weirdest person I've ever met," Beca mumbled grumpily as she left the bedroom, eager to put this conversation fully behind her.

The Bellas soon made their way to the quad, with a grumpy Beca followed closely by an excited Chloe. One week had now passed since the fateful night of the Treble party. After scrupulous investigations, the "killer" had still not been caught. The Barden students continued to be monitored and escorted and by this point, had lost most, if not every bit of their freedom. Tonight was the first night since the Treble party that any of them had been permitted to be outdoors after dark because tonight, a vigil was to be held honoring the lives of Casey Jody and Beck Harris.

"This is John Smith, coming to you live at Barden University," the smug announcer said into the microphone.

The two reporters were made up and dressed in professional attire, standing in the crowded quad of Barden University on a chilly, Saturday evening.

"And this is Gail Abernathy McFadden Feinberger. We want to thank all the viewers out there for making us the most popular YouTube documentary in history," Gail elaborated with a huge grin.

The Barden students slowly filtered in, holding candles and making their ways to the center of the quad where the flagpole stood. Next to the flagpole was a podium, where Beca's dad, interim dean, would be soon delivering a speech.

"That's a big achievement Gail. Our success almost makes up for the embarrassing level of failure you've experienced in your professional career thus far."

"Sure does, John," Gail agreed chirpily. "It does indeed. Who could have predicted that people love true crime?"

John laughed arrogantly. "Literally everyone loves true crime, it seems. I think we're on to something, Gail."

Beca rolled her eyes as she watched the unbearable exchange between the two clueless announcers. Were they just now discovering the true crime craze? Had they not been around for Serial or any of the other podcasts or shows that had elevated true crime into fad-like popularity? These people were quickly becoming the bane of Beca's existence.

"Right again," Gail affirmed. "Well, John, we're here at a vigil for the two murdered Barden students. Before things begin, let's quickly fill our viewers in on what they may have missed in the past week. One week ago today, Barden student Beck Harris, a member of the club swim team and co-captain of BU Harmonics was brutally murdered at a party of the Treblemakers. He appeared to have been impaled by a metal rod and dressed like a swimsuit model."

John interrupted. "He was placed on the front porch of the Treblemaker's house shortly after 12:30 am. During the time 'Barbie Girl' was blaring through the speakers, the front door opened and agony ensued as Barden's collegiate a-capella students were exposed to one of the most horrific sights imaginable."

"A man in a bathing suit?" Gail asked dumbly, but innocently.

"No, an impaled student," John answered gruffly.

"Right, it was a sight for sore eyes," Gail grimaced. "The primary witnesses of the murder were the co-captains of the Barden Bellas, Beca Mitchell and Chloe Beale."

"Interesting fact, Gail," John pointed out. "Did you know that Beca Mitchell is daughter of interim Dean Mitchell?"

"You're kidding!" Gail clamored.

"It's true," John affirmed with a curt nod of his head. "And bad turned to worse for Ms. Mitchell and Ms. Beale when they ran over the dead torso of ex-Bella Casey Jody with their car last Sunday. And again when they inadvertently ate the dead fingers of ex-Bella Casey Jody."

"It seems these two girls have uncovered just about every missing body part of Casey Jody," Gail observed, twisting her mouth into a staged frown.

"That's true," John observed. "Although they are being monitored rather closely these days through both the new campus security escort, Meena Kommissar, and the new house mother, ex-Bella Aubrey Posen."

"Do you find it suspicious that these two escorts have more or less materialized out of thin air to follow the Bellas around?" Gail asked. "What is going on here?" She asked in her most reporter-sounding voice.

"Let's ask Beca Mitchell what she thinks," John decided, pushing through the crowd of students and honing in on Beca Mitchell, who was holding her candle and standing with the other Bellas, waiting for the vigil to begin.

"Ms. Mitchell," Gail called obnoxiously, trailing behind John as he made his way to Beca. "Ms. Mitchell, what can you tell us about the new surveillance that is following the Barden Bellas?"

Beca groaned deeply, her face hardening. "I'm not doing this again. I'm not answering any of your questions if this is for that stupid 'documentary' thing of yours."

"It's called 'Pitch Perfect,'" Gail corrected with bliss, ignorantly unaware of Beca's annoyance.

"Does any part of this situation seem perfect to you?" Beca asked bitingly.

"So far, it's shaping up to be a perfect murder," John observed, shaking his head at Beca. "Women," he muttered to the camera, as if Beca were the stupidest person alive.

"I'll answer questions," Amy piped up, stepping in front of Beca. "Hi, everyone," Amy waved to the camera, aware that she was addressing the millions of documentary viewers.

Amy had no shame when it came to chasing fame, Beca thought with a scowl.

"What, do you want to know about the two scary blondes following us around?" Amy asked with a silly grin. "They're our new security. You see, it takes a lot to scare this fat ass," Amy continued. "I have a black belt. But even I can't scare away the person who is lopping off heads and sticking people on poles. So Beca's dad made us get the scary German lady be our security and to take us everywhere. And when that didn't work, because we broke out of our house and went to a party last week, he made us also get the other scary blonde lady to be our house mom-"

"Wait, wait," Gail interrupted. Amy was dropping so much information, it was difficult to keep up. "You broke out of your house?"

"Amy!" Aubrey yelled harshly, effectively putting an end to Amy's fifteen minutes of fame. "Come here!" She stomped her foot, aggressively motioning Amy away from the camera.

"See what I mean about scary..." Amy muttered to the camera before hurrying over to Aubrey.

Turning and addressing the camera, Aubrey explained, "We can't speak to what may or may not have occurred among the Bellas last week other than to offer our most sincere condolences to the victims of these gruesome attacks."

Aubrey flipped her head over to Amy, squinting her eyes at the younger girl, who cowered behind Beca's back.

"No more interviews, Fat Amy," Aubrey warned.

Beca's eyes widened. Although Aubrey was addressing Amy, the fact that Amy was hiding behind Beca's back gave the effect that Aubrey was also addressing her. And Aubrey in this state was frightening.

Before Aubrey could unleash any additional fury upon Amy, Dean Mitchell took to the podium and began speaking into the microphone. "Good evening, students and faculty. It is with a heavy heart I stand before you tonight."

Beca looked down at the flickering flame of her candle, watching the way the light danced in the overcoming dusk. Holding this vigil, it felt so real. Beca wished that she could go back to last year, before any of this had happened. Back when she was still a loner weirdo stacking records at the campus radio station. Before she cared about anyone else. Instead, here she was, fearing for the lives of the group of girls that had now become her best friends, and Beca was scared to fathom the possibility that any one of them might be in danger. She was too wired to even want to begin thinking about her twentieth birthday, which was the following day.

"We are here to mourn the unfortunate passing of both Casey Jody and Beck Harris," Dean Mitchell continued.

In moments like this, Beca did what she did best. Mask her vulnerability with sarcasm and disdain.

"Passing?" Beca muttered snidely with a grunt. "One's head was chopped off and the other was skewered like a kebab."

Chloe pursed her lips together and with her eyes trained forward, reached her free arm over and patted Beca's shoulder. She could tell that Beca was feeling on edge.

Involuntarily, Beca relaxed into the touch, leaning over and resting her head to rest on Chloe's shoulder while Dean Mitchell continued the vigil service. Chloe bit her lip to stop her growing grin. Over the past week, Beca had become increasingly receptive to Chloe's insatiable need to touch other people, namely Beca. While Chloe could admit that her own behaviors had likely rubbed off on Beca, she couldn't help but feel ecstatic nonetheless. They were growing closer-not only physically, but emotionally.

They were still sharing a bed. Beca was still singing Chloe to sleep each night. They were still waking up in one another's embrace. Beca would still hurl thinly-veiled, teasing insults at Chloe each morning when they got ready for class. Chloe would still embarrass Beca by making flirty and suggestive advances on Beca, particularly if they were within earshot of Amy. It was almost like they were dating. Almost, aside from one key aspect. One very important key aspect, Chloe thought with a frown.

Dean Mitchell finished his speech. "...And with that said, we light these candles tonight to show our unified support for honoring the lives of those who have fallen."

Once Dean Mitchell finished his monologue, the masses slowly walked up to the flagpole, placing the candles in a circle around the flagpole. It did not escape Beca's attention that the flag was flying at half-mast. It was now completely dark outside. Chloe and Beca, along with the other Bellas, delicately placed their candles on the cold grass, and meandered away from the assembly together.

"Long time, no see, losers," came an unfriendly, yet familiar voice, from behind the Bellas.

Beca turned around to face Calamity and the rest of Evermoist. Calamity was grinning with an evil smugness at the Bellas, specifically honing in on Beca.

"Heard you grew an appetite for lady fingers," she continued with a rude laugh. "Not that I'm surprised," Calamity leaned in until she was practically nose to nose with Beca, "I always took you as the type."

"What type is that, exactly?" Beca made the mistake of asking.

"Come back home with me and I'll show you," Calamity suggested with a sinister gleam in her eyes.

"She's not going anywhere with you," Chloe spat out, unable to contain herself. Yes, she could admit, jealousy wasn't a becoming look, but she couldn't bear the thought of Beca doing anything alone with that girl.

"Yeah," Amy added, oblivious to the fact that Chloe's statement had stemmed from pure jealousy, rather than concern or suspicion over Calamity's possibly evil motives. "Beca's not going anywhere with a lady killer."

"Right. You still think we killed people," Calamity rolled her eyes, failing to suppress a grin.

"That and our bodyguard and house mom would never let us out of the house," Flo added, offering her two cents in the matter.

"Been having fun with your babysitters?" She continued, getting perverse enjoyment from the Bella's current status under 'home arrest.'

"Hardly," Beca seethed through clenched teeth. "They aren't our keepers. We're still... free," Beca spit out, lamely failing to combat Calamity's comment with a witty comeback. Beca's responses always fell flat when facing beautiful, strong women. Especially Calamity and Kommissar... and Chloe, Beca added to the bunch.

The girls of Evermoist laughed among themselves at Beca's statement. "If you're so free, why don't you sneak out tonight and have a riff off with us?" Calamity challenged.

"You're on!" Amy fired back, before Beca could say anything to stop her.

"Becs," Chloe whispered into Beca's ear. "I don't think we should."

"Your girlfriend too scared or something?" Calamity cornered Beca.

"No, she's not too scared," Beca replied tersely, forgetting momentarily that Calamity had referred to Chloe as Beca's girlfriend. Dammit, Beca thought, chiding herself. Why was she suddenly losing it? Beca sincerely hoped that Chloe hadn't noticed that Beca had called them girlfriends. Her and Chloe shared a bedroom, for God's sake. The last thing Beca wanted was to creep Chloe out and send her running for the hills.

Chloe , meanwhile, couldn't stop the grin spreading across her face, until Beca quickly corrected herself, making it clear to everyone that Chloe was not her girlfriend.

"So we'll see you at the pool tonight then?" Calamity asked coolly.

Unfortunately, at this moment, Aubrey and Kommissar had realized that three among their flank were missing and the two circled had back to collect the stragglers. It was additionally unfortunate that Calamity's question had been intercepted by Aubrey and Kommissar.

"They will not see you anywhere tonight," Aubrey interjected harshly, grabbing Beca's arm in one hand and Chloe's arm in the other. Yanking the girls hard, Aubrey steered them away from the girls of Evermoist.

"Enjoy your freedom with the babysitters!" Charity called tauntingly as Chloe and Beca were led away.

"Babysitter?" Kommissar asked with confusion, leaning in closely to Calamity. "What is this 'babysitter'?" She asked, grinning as she towered over Calamity. "Does it sit on babies? That sounds... harsh."

Calamity swallowed, failing to hide her intimidation over the taller German woman.

Kommissar continued, correctly interpreting Calamity's silence as submission. "I would not talk to these girls anymore if I were you. You have... what is it called..."

"Tattoos?" Amy supplied loudly.

"No... it is like you are trying to look one way, but that you do not have any talent to prove..." Kommissar trailed off, trying to recall the word to complete her insult.

"Wannabe!" Amy yelled.

"Yes, that is it. Now let's go, Flabby Abby."

"It's Fat Amy... sir," Amy corrected meekly.

"Why would I know your name? It could be anything. Flabby Abby, Lazy Susan, Inflexible Tina..." Kommissar bared her teeth in a horrific smile to Amy.

Amy stared at Kommissar, gauging her courage to respond.

"Now are you ready to go home, Fat Amy?" She asked, unnecessarily emphasizing the last two words.

"Yes," Amy whispered, her eyes staring widely at Kommissar.

"Say goodbye to your little want-to-be's," Kommissar laughed as she led Amy away towards the rest of the Bellas.

The girls made it the rest of the way home without any trouble. Aubrey was only mildly pissed off at Beca, Chloe, and Amy, and the anger quickly subsided. Beca couldn't help but wonder if Stacie's constant presence around Aubrey was softening her edges. I mean, something had to be going on there, right? The two were practically attached at the hip. Once safely inside the Bella house, Kommissar locked the door and left for the evening.

Beca looked around the kitchen and dining room. Somehow, it had initially escaped her notice that the entire downstairs was decorated. There were paper music notes hanging from the walls and the ceilings. Balloons crowded the living room.

"What am I looking at?" Beca asked, utterly perplexed.

"We planned you a birthday party!" Chloe was actually jumping up and down with excitement.

Beca failed to hide a lopsided grin, as she watched the unbridled joy of Chloe Beale. Of course Chloe would plan a birthday party for Beca. And of course it would be themed. Beca couldn't help but feel her heart swell with adoration at the sight of the redhead. For some reason, Chloe's joy had become a little too infectious as of lately.

"Yeah, I uh, see that," Beca tried to bite back her grin, which was rendered impossible when Chloe reached out and swept Beca in a hug.

"It's themed!" Amy exclaimed.

"Yeah?" Beca asked excitedly to Amy, still enveloped in Chloe's constricting embrace.

"It's musical duos," Chloe explained, pulling back from Beca to look the smaller girl in the eye.

"Like as in... two people?"

"That's what duo means." Aubrey rolled her eyes as she answered Beca.

Stacie swatted Aubrey's arm. "Be nice, it's Beca's birthday tomorrow," Stacie admonished.

Everyone stared in stunned silence as they waited for Aubrey to react to Stacie. No one bossed Aubrey around and lived to tell the tale.

Everyone was just as stunned to hear Aubrey apologize, "Sorry, Beca."

Stacie raised her eyebrows at Aubrey, which prompted the older girl to continue by offering, "And Happy Birthday."

"Oh my God," Beca whispered to herself. "Hell has frozen over."

"Shut up," Aubrey answered lightly, pretending to be offended at Beca's comment.

Beca let out a quick bark of laughter. "There's the Aubrey I know and sometimes tolerate."

"Okay," Chloe interrupted quickly, before the almost-friendly exchange between Beca and Aubrey turned sour. It wasn't often that Aubrey and Beca could maintain civility. "So let's meet back down here, in costume, in half an hour!" Chloe squealed, not even trying to mask her excitement.

"I don't have a costume," Beca admitted quietly to Chloe.

"Yes you do," Chloe answered easily, grabbing Beca's hand and yanking her towards the staircase. "So tell me, Becs, would you rather be the Queen or King of Pop?"

"Fuck me," Beca pretended to complain while she allowed Chloe to drag her by the arm up the stairs and to their shared bedroom.

"Don't ask for something you don't want," Chloe shot back with a wink.

After much deliberation, Beca settled on dressing as the King of Pop. Chloe handed Beca glasses, a red leather jacket, and a single bedazzled glove, which Beca paired with some black skinny jeans and ballet flats. Chloe, meanwhile, went the extra mile on her Madonna costume by teasing her hair sky high, dressing in a black tutu, leg warmers, and a large cross necklace. She finished her look by adding a large black bow to her hair.

"How do I look?" Chloe asked, turning around from her mirror to face Beca.

"Like a virgin," Beca deadpanned, not skipping a beat by throwing a Madonna song lyric right in Chloe's face.

Chloe chuckled at Beca's joke.

"And also really good," Beca added. She did look good, Beca noted to herself, noticing that all of a sudden, her palms were sweaty. Chloe looked really good. Her neckline plunged just enough to give her a shot of Chloe's cleavage. Not that Beca was looking because she definitely wasn't.

"Thanks, babe," Chloe shot Beca a wink, taking special notice that Beca's cheeks were turning pink.

Smiling, Chloe added, "Hey, before we go down there. There's something I want to give you." Walking over to Beca, Chloe grabbed Beca's hand to prevent her from walking out of the bedroom.

Beca pursed her lips together, suppressing a smile. "Come on, you really don't need to do that. I mean, you threw me a birthday party, for God's sake," she reasoned. "The last time someone threw me a birthday party, I was... eight, I think."

Chloe's eyes widened and she recoiled in shock. "You haven't had a birthday party since you were eight?"

Beca watched uncomfortably as Chloe's eyes began welling with tears. Shit. There was nothing Beca hated more than seeing Chloe upset. Chloe began sniffing, devastated that no one had bothered to throw Beca a birthday party once in the past twelve years.

Beca's shoulder's slumped as she begged, "Please don't start crying. Please?"

"I'm sorry," Chloe apologized, straightening herself up, and sucking in the tears that were threatening to escape her eyes. "It's just, it makes my heart hurt."

Beca sighed. "If it makes you feel better, I'm not really losing any sleep over it."

"But it's your birthday!" Chloe exclaimed, unable to keep her objections to herself.

"Yeah, I know. It's just... after the divorce, my parents always fought when they were together, so I tried not to do birthday parties or graduations or any of the kind of stuff where they had to be in the same room."

"Becs," Chloe soothed, wrapping her arms tightly around Beca's neck and pulling her as close as humanly possible to her own body. Chloe rested her chin on Beca's shoulder, giving the younger girl an extra squeeze. She knew the divorce was harder on Beca than she ever let on. And she knew that underneath Beca's tough exterior, was a warm, soft, caring friend. Chloe squeezed tightly, wanting to convey to Beca just how important she was to her... and the Bellas.

"Is this my birthday present?" Beca choked out, scarcely able to breathe. "Because it's suffocating."

"Sorry," Chloe apologized hastily, releasing her hold on Beca. She realized that she sometimes got carried away when it came to the personal contact with Beca. "No, that's not... Here," Chloe answered, turning around and picking up a small, gift-wrapped box with a blue ribbon. She handed the box to Beca, waiting with excited anticipation.

"No lady fingers, right?" Beca joked.

"No lady fingers," Chloe agreed.

Beca let out a small chuckle as she looked down at the ornately wrapped gift in her hands. Not that she would admit this willingly, but Beca was moved beyond words. Chloe had gotten her a birthday present. Her Chloe... well, not her Chloe, per say, but yeah. Chloe had taken the time to get her a birthday present and wrap it with such precision and care that embodied the essence of Chloe Beale. Smiling, Beca carefully peeled open the wrapping paper, taking extreme care not to mess up the bow.

Opening the small box, Beca laid eyes on a necklace, with a flat, round pendant about the size of a half-dollar.

"Thanks!" Beca exclaimed in about as enthusiastic a tone as Chloe had ever heard from Beca. "This is... what is it, exactly?" Beca asked, inspecting the necklace carefully.

"It's a necklace!" Chloe answered giddily, practically vibrating with excitement.

"I see that," Beca answered.

"It's also a compass," Chloe explained, opening the lid of the pendant to reveal the face of a small compass.

"Cool!" Beca continued, observing the compass closely. 'I'll have to try this out next time I'm... orienteering. Is that the term?" Beca had to admit, she did not have the faintest clue how to read a compass. She wasn't exactly an outdoor girl.

"I have one, too," Chloe rattled on with cheerful excitement. "Look!"

Chloe pulled a necklace out from her desk drawer. Sure enough, Chloe's necklace matched Beca's exactly.

"Neat. Friendship compass necklaces. Very cool," Beca nodded, laughing to herself. Of course Chloe would get Beca a friendship necklace for her birthday. It was a very... Chloe gift. Not that Beca minded, of course. It was thoughtful.

"Totes cool," Chloe agreed. "Because they aren't really compasses. They're necklaces that always point to the other necklace. See?" Chloe demonstrated, walking in a slow circle around Beca. Beca looked down at her own 'compass,' watching the dial turn in a slow circle to follow the direction of Chloe in relation to Beca.

"Woah, you're totally right." Beca was enthralled. The necklace, indeed, always pointed to the direction of the other necklace. "Now you can effectively stalk me at all times," Beca joked.

"If you're wearing the necklace," Chloe corrected with a wink.

"Trust me, I'll always be wearing the necklace."

Chloe's grin widened into a full-on smile. Beca's sincerity was cute. It was one of the things she loved best about Beca.

"I got it so we could always find the other person," Chloe admitted. "Like we'll always be connected, even when we're apart. It's cheesy, I know."

"It's perfect," Beca replied, locking eyes with Chloe.

Chloe's heart thudded loudly in her chest. Beca's dark blue eyes were mesmerizing. And the quiet look of joy on her face was, well... Chloe would buy Beca a million gifts if it meant getting this reaction. Despite her better judgment, Chloe took a step closer to Beca. Beca mirrored the action by taking a step closer to Chloe.

Before Chloe could make a further move, the loud, unmistaken bellow of Amy pierced through the halls. "BHLOE!"

Beca and Chloe collectively snapped out of their trance. After flinching from the sudden scream, Beca cleared her throat awkwardly, aware that her and Chloe were standing very, very close to one another and aware that her stomach suddenly felt full of nerves.

"Better get down there, huh?" Beca asked, clearing the air.

"Yeah," Chloe agreed reluctantly. She guessed the other girls were more than ready to start the party.

As Beca left the bedroom, she called over her shoulder. "Thanks again, Chlo. Really. This is, um, really great."

"You're welcome," Chloe beamed, quickly checking her phone for missed text messages before sauntering down the stairs to join the other Bellas.

Beca and Chloe made their way downstairs to find the other Bellas already in costume and ready to party. Beca gazed around at the other girls, trying to decipher their various costumes.

Stacie interrupted Beca's train of thought by complimenting, "Looking hot, Mitchell. Or should I say MJ?"

"Right back atcha... Katy Perry?" Beca guessed. Stacie was wearing a bikini top with cotton balls glued around the boobs, meant to resemble whipped cream. One red cotton ball, the 'cherry,' was glued in the center of the 'whipped cream.' Stacie paired the cupcake-themed bikini top with an alarmingly short pair of jean shorts.

"Nailed it!" Stacie replied with excitement.

"Anything that gives her an excuse to wear a bikini as a shirt," Aubrey muttered, rolling her eyes.

Stacie either didn't hear, or chose to ignore Aubrey's comment as she positioned her boobs to make them as perky as possible in her bikini top.

"Wait, so what musical duo are you?" Beca couldn't help but ask. Aubrey's blonde hair fell in loose curls around her face. She was wearing a silver, sparkly dress and carrying an acoustic guitar.

"We're everyone's favorite celebrity feud..." Stacie answered, "Katy Perry and Taylor Swift."

"I totes see it!" Chloe clamored excitedly over Aubrey and Stacie's creative choice for a musical duo costume.

Aubrey smiled, pleased to have pulled off the look so well. Turning the focus away from her, she asked, "So we've got the King and Queen of Pop Music, the best celebrity musician feud, and who have we got over here?" Aubrey pointed over to Flo and CR.

CR, who was wearing a baggy pair of jeans, and a flat-bill hat, answered, "The power couple of the music world. Jay Z and..."

"Beyoncé!" Flo exclaimed, shaking and shimmying in her sparkly dress.

"Oh my God, that's priceless," Stacie gleamed, looking the pair up and down.

"My life has never been better than this moment," Flo admitted happily. "I just wish I could be Beyoncé all the time."

"Don't we all?" Beca asked somewhat rhetorically.

"I thought we were the power couple of music!" Jessica interrupted.

"The power ex-couple of music, babe," Ashley corrected.

"Oh, right."

"We're Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, in case you didn't know," Ashley clarified. Ashley was clad in a matching jean jacket and jean pant set. Jessica, meanwhile, was wearing a long jean dress and carrying a denim purse.

"Where on earth did you find these...?" Aubrey trailed off, not know how to refer to the pair's costume.

"Matching jean outfits?" Jessica supplied. "Ashley's into sewing."

"And Jessica is into thrift shopping," Ashley elaborated, wrapping her arm around Jessica's waist and giving her a squeeze.

"We're a best-case scenario team," Jessica summed up cheerfully, giving Ashley a quick peck on the cheek.

"This is so cute I wanna throw up," Beca admitted.

"Isn't anybody gonna ask about us?" Amy asked, unhappy to have been forgotten.

"I wanted to but, I was kind of afraid," Chloe admitted, looking up from her cellphone. Beca frowned, lamenting over Chloe's sudden inexplicable attachment to her phone before glancing over to Amy and Lilly, who were both wearing heavy makeup and tight dresses, while adorned black, beehive wigs. Lilly, however, powdered her face in white and wrapped a white sheet around her body. The costume was rather indecipherable.

"We're Amy Winehouse!" Amy informed giddily.

"Both of you?" Beca asked with confusion.

"Yeah," Amy answered, "See, I'm Fat Amy Winehouse and Lilly is Dead Amy Winehouse."

"Post-mortem," Lilly whispered in a quiet tone that was heard by few.

"That's... certainly creative," Aubrey tried to sound impressed, though her facial expression indicated that she was more or less weirded out by Amy and Lilly's costume choice.

"Yeah we figured cause she's dead… RIP," Amy added, kissing her knuckles and raising her fist in the air, "That one of us should dress dead."

"Neat," Flo responded shakily, after several moments of heavy silence filled the air.

Clearing her throat, Chloe shoved her phone into her bra and asked, "Does anyone want a drink? I made jiggle juice, which, full disclosure, is mostly Boone's Farm."

Beca groaned, off-put by the fact that Boone's Farm wine was a featured drink at her birthday party. This did not stop her or anyone else from consuming more than enough to reach a point of comfortable inebriation. After only an hour, music was pounding throughout the halls of the Bella house and the girls were happily and loosely dancing to Chloe's playlist of party jams.

Beca, meanwhile, caught herself zoning out, her mind mentally exerting itself to figure out the answer to Chloe's odd behavior. Chloe appeared to be nervously checking her phone every minute or so, like she was anxiously awaiting to hear from someone. But who? And why?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Amy asked, approaching Beca.

"Hmm?" Beca responded absentmindedly, only then becoming aware that she had been zoning out again and was, in fact, staring at Amy.

"Like you want to break off a piece of this Fat Amy Winehouse sandwich," Amy elaborated.

Beca rolled her eyes. Why did Amy always assume everyone was obsessed with her?

"I really don't-"

"Okay, okay, I'll sing for you," Amy offered, wrongly assuming that Beca's end game was to get a free Amy Winehouse show.

Beca opened her mouth to protest, but any sound was instantly drowned out by the belting of Amy's rendition of 'Rehab.'

"They tried to make me go to rehab

I said, "no, no, no"

Yes, I been black

But when I come back, you'll know, know, know

I ain't got the time

And if my daddy thinks I'm fine

He's tried to make me go to rehab

I won't go, go, go."

"That was..." Beca trailed off, racking her brain for the correct thing to say.

"Amazing, I know." Amy supplied without bearing much thought.

"I was gonna say loud, but yeah, amazing too."

Amy grew quiet for a second, as an idea formed in her brain. "I should take this act on the road. Like a traveling type of thing. I could go around to different bars."

"You could," Beca agreed hesitantly.

"I'll be a one-hit wonder."

"Mmmmm," Beca hummed in agreement, taking a sip from her drink. Beca strongly suspected that Amy was misusing the term 'one-hit wonder.'

Beca's attention had shifted away from Amy's pipe dream and toward Chloe. Beca watched the redhead intently. Although she was laughing and joking around with Stacie and Aubrey, her phone was clutched tightly in her hand. Every few moments she would glance down at it nervously, almost as if she were waiting on an important message.

"Short Stack?" Amy asked.

"Hm?" Beca snapped out of her trance and turned focus to Amy, yet again.

"Are you okay? Because you're hardly listening to Fat Amy Winehouse right now."

"Yeah, sorry, it's just..." Beca grimaced, not wanting to finish her thought.

Amy plowed through Beca's hesitation with ease. "Madonna?" Amy supplied.

Beca looked at Amy blankly.

"You know, Ginger," she continued, jutting her thumb out to point across the room to Chloe.

"Right. Uh, yeah. I mean, no. Well, sort of." Beca confessed uneasily.

"Ah, I know what this is about," Amy accused knowingly.

At the same time that Beca blurted out, "I'm scared for her," Amy blurted out, "You're in love with her."

"What did you say?" Beca asked, clearly put on the defensive by Amy's words. It had almost sounded like Amy said...

"Uh the thing that you said... that, uh, you're..." Amy trailed off, as she began muttering incoherently.

"Scared for her," Beca corrected, her voice tinged with annoyance.

"Yeah, me too," Amy agreed quickly.

The girls looked at Chloe, watching her as she checked her phone, yet again, for the thousandth time that evening.

"Erm, Beca," Amy asked, leaning over to whisper in Beca's ear. "Why are we scared for her again?"

Beca answered evenly, "Because she's been conspicuously absent until minutes before each of the two murders on campus. And she snuck out the other night when I was asleep and she didn't tell me where she had been. She's been super jumpy and is clinging to that phone like a koala to a tree."

"You think that she knows something we don't?" Amy considered.

"I think it's possible," Beca replied, "And I think that phone is a connection to the killer. I mean, think about it. I got a weird, mysterious text message the day of Casey's murder. And the police took away my phone when I told them about it. So what if..."

"The killer is now contacting Chloe?" Amy finished Beca's thought.

"Exactly."

"So you want to steal the phone?" Amy jumped the gun to get to what Beca was clearly implying.

"I'd prefer to destroy it somehow," Beca answered.

"You came to the right Fat Amy Winehouse."

"Ugh, do you have to call yourself that?" Beca asked with annoyance.

"Do you trust me to take care of this?" Amy replied, ignoring Beca's question.

Beca sighed heavily. "Not really."

"Have I ever let you down?"

"All the time."

"What?" Amy asked, genuinely confused.

Beca paused for a moment, pursing her lips together. "You're very unreliable. It's like one of the hallmarks of your personality."

"You're not remembering all of the times I've been awesome," Amy reminded Beca. Determined not to let her pint-sized friend down, Amy turned her focus to Chloe. "Hey, Madonna!" Amy called loudly across the room.

Chloe swiveled her head just in time to register Amy charging Chloe at full speed. It looked like a linebacker was about to tackle a teddy bear.

"Amy, watch out!" Chloe called out desperately.

Amy plowed straight into Chloe, tackling the smaller girl to the ground. The phone flew out of Chloe's hand and landed straight into the punch bowl. Beca had to hand it to her, Amy had really calculated her momentum well.

Chloe and Amy each lay on the ground for several seconds, rolling around and writhing in pain. Amy muttered several complaints about Chloe's boney twig body jabbing into Amy's ribcage. Chloe, meanwhile, sat up from the floor in disbelief, reorienting herself after Amy's unexpected charge.

"Ames, what the hell?" Chloe asked as kindly as she could muster, despite her current annoyance with Amy.

Chloe's eyes darted around for her phone. It had just been in her hands several seconds ago. Where could it have... the punch bowl. Chloe looked into the punch bowl with abject horror as she noticed her cell phone has sunk to the bottom of the bowl.

"My phone!" Chloe cried out, scurrying to her feet to retrieve the phone.

Despite Amy's size disadvantage compared to Chloe, her reflexes were quicker. "No, erm, I'll get it!" Amy exclaimed, scrambling to her feet and physically pushing Chloe to the floor in order to get to the cell phone first.

With no poise or grace, Amy plunged her hand deep into the red punch bowl and took her sweet time as she slowly fished out Chloe's cell phone.

"Here you go," Amy finally offered, slowly extending her hand, which was dripping with red juice, to Chloe.

There was little doubt about it, Beca could admit, the phone was dead, although Amy's methodology had been less than smooth. In fact, it was one of the more idiotic plans Amy had ever conceived. But hell, it worked. Everyone chalked this up to Amy's ridiculous behavior, which is why no one thought to ask why Amy had tackled Chloe in the first place. Amy's antics, it seemed, were the perfect guise to pull this plan off.

"You should really be more careful," Aubrey warned. "Lucky it was just her phone."

"Yeah, lucky it's her phone that's dead as a doorknob," Amy agreed, turning over her shoulder and shooting Beca a (somewhat) discreet wink.

Chloe's face fell as she realized that Amy was undoubtedly correct. Her phone was beyond repair. But did that mean... what about...

"It's okay, Chlo," Beca piped up, almost as she could read Chloe's thoughts. "It's gonna be okay."

Chloe walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. No one said anything, but flicked their gazes back and forth between Chloe and Amy. What had just happened?

"It was an act of God," Amy explained, filling the silence void.

Beca sighed, her insides twisting into knots as she realized just how upset Chloe appeared to be. She wasn't sure why Chloe's unsettledness suddenly hit her so hard. Beca was used to feeling mostly apathetic about others' feelings. These past few days had been odd, to say the least. For some reason that Beca couldn't figure out, Beca's emotions now largely rose and fell in tandem with Chloe's feelings. And it was really freaking annoying.

"I'll go talk to her," Beca muttered under her breath, unable to live with the thought of an upset Chloe for another moment.

Beca turned on her heels and followed Chloe into the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen, Beca saw Chloe sitting alone at the kitchen table, her face buried in her hands.

"Hey," Beca greeted gently, taking a seat next to her best friend.

Chloe raised her face to meet Beca's concerned gaze. Fuck, Beca thought to herself. Chloe was crying. Guilty didn't begin to cover the emotions Beca felt in this moment.

"Hey," Chloe responded, barely above a whisper, as she wiped her eyes free of any remaining tears.

"If you want, we can run out and replace the phone tomorrow," Beca offered, hoping to placate her friend, even though secretly, Beca didn't like the idea of Chloe carrying around a cell phone for the time being. Beca had this unconfirmed suspicion that Chloe's cell phone was causing more trouble than good.

Chloe shook her head, realizing just how insane she must seem to Beca and the other girls right now. By all means, she was entitled to feel pissed off at Amy for destroying her cell phone. The sadness and tears, however, seemed to be an objective overreaction.

"I'm sorry, I'm being crazy right now," Chloe apologized to Beca.

"Hey," Beca responded, leaning across the table and carefully placing her hand over Chloe's hand. Chloe latched on to Beca's hand, intertwining their fingers together. Beca smiled gently before continuing, "You aren't acting crazy."

"It's just, what if I need my phone?" Chloe asked, offering as much information as she felt comfortable to offer.

"For what? Is there something imperative happening between now and tomorrow when we replace your phone?"

"No," Chloe answered uneasily, not offering the full truth.

"Who do you need to reach that isn't here in this house right now?" Beca asked.

Chloe said nothing.

"Exactly," Beca continued, taking Chloe's silence as the answer she needed. "We're all here... together. You and I especially. I'm not allowed out of your sight apparently, remember?" Beca asked, her tone flirting on the edge of sarcasm.

A small smile began creeping across Chloe's face as she realized that Beca was right. The lightening of Chloe's mood did wonders for Beca's internal struggle as Beca realized with resigned frustration that Chloe's emotional well-being was altogether too important to Beca's emotional well-being.

"You have to stay with me... no matter what," Chloe reminded in a semi-joking tone, a smirk gracing her face.

Beca rolled her eyes, pretending to be unaffected by Chloe's sudden change in mood. "You say that like it's a threat."

"It could be," Chloe shrugged casually. "I could decide to start testing my pick up lines on you... or maybe start kicking you in my sleep."

"You already do that last one," Beca groaned. Chloe was a very active sleeper.

"Do I?" Chloe asked with shock. "Then why do you still sleep with me?"

"Because I... I... remember? We get scared at night?"

It was not lost on Beca or Chloe that 'we' really meant 'Beca.'

"Hm," Chloe hummed. "Then I guess I'll have to resort to testing my very best pick up lines on you."

"You wouldn't dare," Beca growled. Amy and the other girls already gave them a hard enough time about the nature of their friendship. Beca didn't need grief from Chloe, on top of everything else.

"Are you a photographer, Becs?" Chloe asked, a sly grin gracing her face.

Beca took a deep breath, trying not to think about how Chloe looked right now, with that damn twinkle in her too-blue eyes.

"Because I can picture you and me together," Chloe bantered happily.

Beca's stomach twisted into knots over Chloe's words and the way that Chloe was looking at her right now. I mean, obviously she was joking with Beca. And obviously, Beca didn't see Chloe that way. Instead of dwelling on these thoughts any further, Beca shot back dryly, "Jesus, I hope we catch this fucking serial killer soon."

"Don't like that one?" Chloe asked, goading Beca along.

Beca raised a single eyebrow at Chloe by way of response.

"Right, you're too cool to admit anything," Chloe teased. "Even that you totally loved having sex with me in that dream of yours."

Beca rolled her eyes, standing up. "I'm going back to the party."

Another hour passed and as the girls drank more jiggle juice and got even more inebriated. Beca and Chloe each managed to put the phone incident behind them as they rejoined the other Bellas. In fact, Beca was beginning to forget the whole phone incident in the first place and was finally beginning to have some fun. Currently, Beca was hanging out in the kitchen with Flo, each showing off their best Beyoncé dance moves.

"Damn, Bey, you've got moves!" Beca complimented Flo. Sure, she had known Flo for close to three weeks by this point, but this was the first time she had really seen Flo dance.

"Thanks, it's my inner Beyoncé working," she responded, shimmying her hips.

Beca tilted her head. "We'll have to get you to help with choreography this year," she decided.

"You really think I could?" Flo clapped her hands together, clearly ecstatic.

"Oh, for sure," Beca affirmed. Although Chloe was mostly in charge of the choreography, Beca figured she would appreciate the help.

"Thanks, you know... I was kind of scared of you when I first joined," Flo admitted to Beca. "But you're actually really cool." Were it not for the fact that Flo had consumed two and a half cups of jiggle juice, she probably would not have made such an admission to Beca.

"Why does everyone always say that?" Beca asked, half complaining, half curious.

"Don't worry, I'm not scared anymore," Flo brushed her former statement off with a wave of her hand. "Your girlfriend told me how nice you are even though you pretend like you aren't."

"My who?" Beca asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

Flo looked blankly at Beca, while Beca stared back at her in confusion. Suddenly, Flo was beginning to feel slightly afraid of Beca again, as she realized the error in her statement.

"Uh, you know… Let's just let's pretend that I said nothing at all," Flo trailed off, her face scanning around the room for any possible buffer between her and Beca.

"Yeah, let's just-" Beca began, before the basement door swung open and hit Beca in the back of her head. Half of the red jiggle juice in Beca's cup spilled onto the kitchen floor while Beca clutched the back of her head. Surely this would leave a bump.

"Oof, woah, Amy Winehouse," Beca groaned through gritted teeth as she observed a blatantly unaware Fat Amy ambling from the basement into the kitchen.

"Erm, sorry," Amy apologized before meandering through the kitchen and refilling her red solo cup with more alcohol.

Before Beca could recollect her thoughts, the basement door swung open a second time, hitting Beca in the head a second time.

"Watch it other Amy Winehouse," Beca complained, as the other 'Dead' Amy Winehouse made her way into the kitchen.

Beca took a step forward and turned around just in time to barely avoid being hit by the basement door a third time. "Okay, seriously... guys," Beca yelled.

How many fucking people were in the basement, Beca wondered? Beca watched with awe as another Amy Winehouse entered into the kitchen from the basement door.

"Wait... three Amy Winehouse's?" Beca asked loudly to no one in particular. "I may not be totally sober, but this math isn't adding up."

"Why are there three Amy Winehouses at this party?" Flo asked.

"That ding-a-ling," Aubrey joined the conversation and grimaced, honing in on Bumper Allen from across the room.

"Huh?" Beca asked, acknowledging Aubrey's comment.

"Bumper..." Aubrey seethed with quiet resentment. Suddenly raising her voice to a screeching yell, Aubrey bellowed across the room, "BUMPER!"

"Hey, what's up?" Bumper answered casually, turning around to face Aubrey. Beca noticed with some awe that he did not seem at all ashamed to be wearing a shimmery silver ball gown, a beehive wig, and false eyelashes.

"This is a Bella-only event. What are you doing here?" Aubrey demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Amy invited me," Bumper answered, as if the answer were the most obvious statement in the world.

"Fat Amy?" Aubrey turned on the younger blonde, who was cowering in the corner of the kitchen.

"Uhhhhhhhhh... yeah," Amy explained hesitantly, "I uh, you know, need to clean the pipes, so I invited Bumper to come over and be Dude Amy Winehouse."

"He needs to leave now," Aubrey explained evenly, trying not to dwell on the fact that Amy was using him to 'clean her pipes.'

"Oh, come on Bree, he's not doing any harm," Stacie stepped to Amy's defense, linking her arm with Aubrey's and patting it gently.

"How did he get in anyway?" CR piped in.

"Bree... can't we just, ignore this infraction, just this once? It's Beca's birthday, remember?" Chloe asked. She did not want Beca's birthday party to be derailed by party crashers. Especially after hearing Beca admit that she had not been thrown a birthday party since childhood.

"Well, I'm sure Beca doesn't want him here either," Aubrey scoffed, looking over at Beca for reassurance.

"Yeah, not especially," Beca agreed dryly. It was not often that she agreed with Aubrey, but they could both agree on this. Bumper was an asshole.

"Hey, guys, we brought-" a voice called as more feet could be heard traveling up from the basement stairs into the kitchen.

The entire party stared with curiosity as two more newcomers entered the kitchen.

"More Amy Winehouses?" Aubrey asked in utter disbelief, nearly coughing over her statement.

Jesse offered an easygoing grin, while Benji stood shyly behind him. Benji and Jesse were each wearing Amy Winehouse costumes, one more ridiculously over-the-top than the other.

"Yeah, Amy told us to come over dressed as... oh," Jesse realized, taking in Aubrey's stern glare. Backtracking, Jesse added, "And now I'm realizing this was a bad idea."

"This party doesn't need five Amy Winehouses. Fat Amy, what gives?" Aubrey seethed.

"Dude Amy Winehouse told me he'd only come dressed as Amy Winehouse if he got to bring two other Dude Amy Winehouses," Amy explained with feigned innocence.

Aubrey sighed, burying her face in her hand with exasperation. "Get out. All of you."

"Bree, seriously, I don't think they're doing any harm," Chloe reasoned.

"Yeah, Bree, can't we just... relax?" Stacie asked, resting her chin on Aubrey's shoulder.

Aubrey pursed her lips together, considering Stacie's request. Surprisingly, she relented.

"Fine," Aubrey agreed with annoyance. "But just this once. And only because I don't have the physical manpower to throw three Amy Winehouses out of this-"

"Wine?" Flo supplied, holding a cup of jiggle juice in front of Aubrey's nose.

"-House," Aubrey finished her sentence through gritted teeth, before glancing down at Flo's extended hand. Snatching the cup, Aubrey downed the jiggle juice in a single gulp.

"Welcome to the party, dudes," Beca acquiesced, raising her solo cup in a mock toast before taking a swing.

"Happy Birthday, Be-caw!" Jesse exclaimed, giving his friend a dramatic hug.

"Sorry we made Aubrey mad," Benji apologized, blinking his fake eyelashes several times in the process.

"No worries," Chloe waved it off, "She's already over it. Look."

The small group of friends cut their gazes over to where Aubrey stood. Stacie was nuzzling her neck and whispering something to Aubrey. By the looks of it, Stacie's statement was making Aubrey more than a little embarrassed, as her face was turning crimson red.

"Okay, I don't want to see... whatever that is," Beca grimaced, turning her focus to the drink in her hands.

"Are they a thing?" Jesse asked.

Chloe affirmed his question, with a nod of her head. "Sure are."

"Since when?" Beca asked in disbelief. When had this happened? Why hadn't Beca known about it?

"Since... what day did Aubrey move in?" Chloe asked, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"Seriously?" Beca asked. They had been hooking up for the better part of a week now?

"Well, she is sharing a room with Stacie," Chloe reasoned. "So, Stacie was going to get to her at some point or another."

Beca grunted. "The thing that surprises me is that Stacie is still going after her. She's normally a one and done kind of girl."

"Well, Aubrey's special," Chloe answered with a smile.

"Is that what we're calling Satan now?" Beca asked wryly.

"They're really into each other, I think," Jesse paused with careful consideration.

"I think it's great," Benji shrugged, downing his drink before adjusting his black beehive wig.

"I think it's sweet," Jesse added with a nod.

"Mmm. Speaking of sweet..." Chloe began, bumping shoulders with Beca.

"What?" Beca asked, unaware that she was metaphorically walking straight into a trap.

"You're so sweet, you're giving me cavities," Chloe winked.

"Oh. My God. You seriously have to stop."

"What's going on?" Benji asked with innocence.

"Dude," Jesse harshly whispered to Benji, "They're flirting."

"We're not flirting." Beca jumped to the defensive, her face growing red with a combination of frustration and embarrassment. Seriously, why was Chloe like this?

"We're totally flirting," Chloe answered Jesse, ignoring Beca's protest.

"I'm not flirting with you... I'm not flirting with her," Beca turned to Jesse and Benji, her eyes pleading with them to believe her.

Jesse shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Beca swore under her breath. "I'm going to get a drink," she muttered, stalking away from Chloe and whatever the hell that just was.

"I hate to see you leave, but I love to watch you go!" Chloe called out loudly behind Beca.

Beca didn't dignify Chloe's passing remark with any kind of response, instead trying to shake the inappropriate thoughts that were forming in her mind.

"Short Stack!" Amy called loudly, causing half of her drink to slosh out of her cup.

"What's up?" Beca asked, reluctantly joining the conversation between Amy and Bumper.

"Settle something for us, eh?" Amy asked.

"It's about our relationship," Bumper elaborated.

"Oh, I really don't want to do that," Beca responded as apologetically as she could muster.

"Okay, so hypothetically, say that one of us," Bumper began, turning his gaze pointedly toward Amy, "Was shacking up with other dudes... I mean, people. This is completely hypothetical. So, would you, I don't know, think it was kind of weird. That she... I mean, they, were ignoring the hot piece of man meat right in front of them for other people?" Bumper asked, his voice straining higher and higher as his question wore on.

Beca sighed, turning to Amy. "This isn't hypothetical, is it?"

"Erm... Ermmmmmmmm," Amy trailed off, trying to think of a clever way to answer Beca's question.

"Okay," Beca answered evenly. "So, um, I'm not gonna answer this question because it isn't my place and also, because I can't take anything you're saying seriously when you're dressed like Amy Winehouse."

About half an hour later, Beca found out that Bumper, Jesse, and Benji had left the party. Apparently, Amy's unwillingness to define her relationship with Bumper had created quite the rift and Bumper had stormed out, dragging Jesse and Benji with him.

The rest of the girls, meanwhile, hardly noticed their absence. Jessica and Ashley were nowhere to be seen. CR, Flo, and Amy were having a dance off in the middle of the living room. Lilly was staring at the portrait in the foyer hallway, whispering an indecipherable incantation. Stacie was sitting on the couch with Aubrey, whispering something into the blonde's ear that apparently turned her face scarlet.

Chloe, meanwhile, found a solidly drunk Beca fumbling with the party playlist in the middle of the kitchen. Chloe approached Beca knowingly and leaned heavily into her, requiring Beca to shift her weight to accommodate.

"Baby," she mumbled into Beca's ear.

The hairs on Beca's neck stood straight up. Beca didn't have to be sober to notice the strange tightening in her lower stomach and the heat emanating from her entire body.

"What are you doing?" Beca asked with the kind of tone that hinted annoyance, despite her conflicting feelings over Chloe's sudden closeness.

"Are you tired?" Chloe asked, ignoring Beca's question.

"Sort of?"

"Because you've been running through my mind all night."

"God, can you fucking stop with the pick up lines?" Beca groaned.

Chloe smirked. Beca's face hardened.

"Don't," Beca warned, pointing a finger at Chloe. "Don't you dare."

"I'm not God, but I'm pretty damn close," Chloe sang out teasingly before breaking into a wide grin.

Beca muttered something incoherently to herself that in all likelihood, was a long string of curse words.

Stacie, who had been watching the whole exchange between Beca and Chloe from the living room, had reached the tipping point with her curiosity. They had to be sleeping together, right? The sexual tension between them was hit-you-over-the-head obvious. Stacie and Aubrey exchanged a knowing look before joining Chloe and Beca's conversation.

"Already at each other's throats?" Aubrey asked without amusement.

"Not yet," Chloe answered Aubrey, honing in her gaze on Beca's neck.

Beca inhaled sharply, stepping back a foot as she realized the implication of Chloe's answer to Beca's question. Beca tried to ignore the way Chloe's icy blue eyes lingered over Beca's neck. She looked like she was about to devour Beca.

"Why?" Beca asked, turning on Aubrey. "Why would you set her up for that?" Beca snapped.

Aubrey sighed, biting back a smile. She hated to admit it, but Beca's thinly-veiled and unconvincing annoyance over Chloe's advances was cute, even though Aubrey had just inadvertently lobbed Chloe the perfect pick-up line.

"I take it this week hasn't been easy for you, Beca," Aubrey observed.

"Maybe if someone," Beca began, pointedly staring at Chloe, "Wasn't being annoying as hell and driving me insane."

"Aw, Becs, you know you love it," Chloe replied with a wink, grabbing both of Beca's hands in her own hands and yanking Beca close.

Aubrey and Stacie exchanged another look of bemusement before walking away. It was clear that whatever was going on between Beca and Chloe was a two-person game. Aubrey and Stacie figured it was best to leave the two other girls to their own devices.

Beca stared blankly into Chloe's eyes, trying incredibly hard not to succumb to her infectious happiness. Chloe's face was incredibly close to her own right now. Like, inches away. Dammit. The sparkle in Chloe's eyes was too much. She was too much. Beca bit her inner cheek, biding her time before giving a response.

"Is that a smile I see?" Chloe asked teasingly.

Beca rolled her eyes, failing to suppress her growing grin.

"Dammit, you're really cute." The words tumbled out of Beca's mouth before she could stop them.

"So it's working?" Chloe asked, her face lighting up with pure happiness as she continued unwittingly invading Beca's personal bubble. The girls were practically touching noses. Chloe went the extra inch, bumping her nose into Beca's nose.

"Is what working?" Beca asked uncomfortably, considering pulling away to reclaim some of her personal space. Beca internally lamented as she slowly realized that she didn't want to pull away from Chloe.

"My charm," Chloe answered with a sultry wink.

Beca swallowed. "No, not at all," she answered flatly, trying desperately to deflect. She wasn't sure what Chloe was getting at or why she had been pestering Beca all night, but she was driving Beca crazy.

Chloe, undeterred, took Beca's answer as a challenge. "What about now?" Chloe asked, wrapping her arms around Beca's waist and yanking Beca even closer, if that was even possible.

"You're such a dork," Beca teased dryly, though both girls knew that the pink shade on the tops of Beca's cheeks indicated that Chloe's charm was, in fact, working.

"And now?" Chloe continued, grinning as she pointedly let her gaze drop to Beca's lips.

At this point, all words escaped Beca's vocabulary. Her stomach was in knots and every inch of her body felt like it was on fire. A warm, throbbing sensation pulsated between her legs. Fuck. She was too far gone at this point to think about anything else aside from Chloe's gaze on her lips.

"Wanna know something?" Chloe whispered, her eyes not leaving Beca's lips.

"Hm?" Beca hummed, surprising herself that she was able to make any amount of noise at all. Nothing made sense right now. Why was Chloe looking at her like that? And why did it feel so damn perfect?

"There's something else I want to give you for your birthday." Chloe began running her fingertips up Beca's arm.

"Yeah?" Beca answered unevenly, her heart practically leaping out of her chest.

"Yeah." Chloe affirmed with confidence.

Chloe paused a second, darting her eyes from Beca's lips to Beca's eyes, checking for the nonverbal consent she needed before continuing. Beca didn't pull back, but rather, reciprocated Chloe's actions by dropping her eyes to Chloe's lips. Automatically, Chloe leaned in, delicately closing the distance between the two girls.

The second Chloe's lips touched Beca's lips, Chloe melted as the overwhelming, electric feeling in her chest guided her actions. Beca was kissing her back. Chloe's heart gushed with joy as she pulled Beca even closer, her hands running from Beca's waist up to her neck. Beca's lips were so soft and felt so perfect against her own, as Beca applied the exact right amount of pressure to keep Chloe leaning in for more.

Fuck, if she wasn't a goner for Beca before, she certainly was now. Kissing Beca was about a million times more thrilling than any other kiss had ever been. Beca brought her hand up to Chloe's cheek, cupping it as she leaned in for more. Chloe bit back a satisfied hum, smiling into their shared kisses. Everything about this moment was perfect.

Acting on pure hormones, Chloe ran her tongue along Beca's bottom lip, seeking entrance. Beca responded automatically, opening her mouth and massaging Chloe's tongue with her own. As the two girls continued making out, Beca guided Chloe against the wall, pinning her into one place. Chloe moaned audibly, unable to keep her erupting feelings stifled. God, this was so freaking hot. Chloe couldn't believe it had taken her this long to finally kiss Beca.

While Chloe and Beca continued kissing, a somewhat muffled, but distinct melody began sounding from outside the walls of the Bella house. It was a song. As the intro to the song concluded, it only grew in volume.

"We only said goodbye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to

I go back to us

I love you much

It's not enough

You love blow, and I love puff

And life is like a pipe

And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside

We only said goodbye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to

We only said goodbye with words

I died…

We only said goodbye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to

We only said goodbye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to…"

"Bellas!" A sharp yell could be heard from the foyer of the Bella house. Aubrey.

Chloe and Beca jerked apart, suddenly coming back to their senses and realizing the magnitude of the boundary they had just crosses. Chloe could swear she sensed a moment of panic on Beca's face, as Beca subconsciously took two steps back from Chloe, clearing her throat before snapping her head down the hall in Aubrey's direction.

Aubrey called the Bellas a second and third time, until all ten girls were assembled in the foyer hallway.

"Someone's just been killed," Aubrey informed the group solemnly.

A hush fell among the girls.

"What?" Beca asked and quickly scanned the room, making sure that each of the nine other Bellas were present. Counting nine girls in the room, Beca sighed with relief.

"Another murder?" Flo asked.

"Someone was strangled and hung up on the flagpole in the quad," Aubrey informed the girls, her eyes purposely trained on the strange portrait that hung in the foyer. She couldn't bear to look them in the eye, especially since Aubrey knew the victim to this third murder.

"Who?" Ashley asked cautiously.

Aubrey shook her head, fighting back tears. She didn't want to say it.

"Who?" Chloe repeated the question gently.

"Bumper," Aubrey whispered.


	5. Chapter 5- Fight Song

CHAPTER 5

Another day had passed since the fateful night that Bumper Allen had been strangled and hung up on the flagpole in the quad. Ironically, the hanging had occurred at the very same spot that a vigil had been held for the other two murdered students, mere hours before Bumper's murder. Police scanned the scene carefully, looking for any iota of evidence that could indicate who would be responsible for such inhumane actions.

As far as any of the Bellas had determined, the following facts were known about the serial killer. First, each murder (or incident involving body parts of a murdered victim) was accompanied by a related song. Casey Jody had been beheaded during the playing of 'Heads Will Roll.' Beck Harris had been murdered and dressed like a supermodel for people to find while 'Barbie Girl' played at the Treblemaker's party. Casey Jody's torso and fingers had each been discovered while 'Piece of Me' played on the radio and music box, respectively. Bumper Allen had been strangled in the night while dressed like Amy Winehouse during a time when the campus speakers blared 'Back to Black.' Whoever the serial killer was, they had an affinity for tying murders to songs.

Second, the serial killer appeared to be technologically adept. Sound systems were likely rigged for each of the first two murders. The campus radio station was tapped during the time that Beca and Chloe found Casey Jody's torso. The whole campus speaker system was rigged and tapped to accompany Bumper's murder.

Third, the serial killer appeared to be targeting the a-capella community. Each of the three murders had involved a different a-capella group on campus. The only two unaffected groups were the High Notes and Evermoist.

Fourth, and most alarmingly, the serial killer seemed to be especially tied in with the Bellas. Amy had been the one bowled over by ex-Bella Casey Jody's head. Beca and Chloe had discovered a kebab-ed Beck Harris on the front porch of the Treble house. Beca and Chloe had run over Casey's torso. The killer addressed the box of Casey’s fingers to Beca. The killer had swiped Bumper and killed him right after he had left the Bella house party.

The girls, especially Chloe, lamented over these facts tirelessly. Nonetheless, the wear of these murders weighed heavily on everyone. The Bellas were feeling hopeless and frustrated, like sitting ducks in the middle of a shooting gallery. The irritation was beginning to manifest negatively. That morning, over breakfast, the witch-hunt began.

"I just don't understand why Bumper was murdered, but Jesse and Bumper got home safely, without a scratch or even a memory of losing Bumper along the way," Jessica thought aloud at the breakfast table.

"Yeah, Jesse of all people, should have realized that Bumper went missing on the way home. He's weirdly into horror movies... this sort of thing should have been on his radar," Ashley agreed with some suspicion.

"Guys, stop it," Beca complained, darting her eyes over nervously to where Amy sat sullenly at the table. Talking about Bumper seemed wrong somehow, given that Amy was clearly quite torn up about the whole incident. Amy had not slept a wink during the past night, fraught with distress over Bumper's untimely death. Beca knew this because she had sat awake all night with Amy.

"You're just saying that because you have history with Jesse," Aubrey openly accused. Beca had been hung up on that nerdy, movie-loving Treblemaker throughout her freshman year.

"What are you implying?" Beca seethed, turning on Aubrey.

Aubrey shrugged. "Just that you're pretty close with him, is all."

"She's not even dating him anymore," Chloe pointed out, a little too quickly.

"Yeah, if anything, it would be Amy we should suspect. She's the one who fought with Bumper right before he was-" Stacie began, finding herself unable to finish her thought.

"Really wanna start with me, Legs?" Amy asked. "Because I'm a black belt and can go all day."

"And yet, you say you're not violent," CR piped in.

"She didn't do it," Lilly whispered. Amazingly, everyone was able to hear Lilly.

"And what about you?" CR turned on Lilly. "You've got those voodoo dolls in your room and you're all obsessed with death."

"I think we're ignoring the obvious suspect here," Amy cut in, coming to Lilly's defense. "Ginger."

"What?" Beca spat.

"Yeah, she was absent right before each of the murders."

"Not this one with Bumper," Beca replied, her octave raising and failing to conceal her irritation with Amy.

"Oh, yeah? Well, where was she?" Amy asked, clasping her hands together and setting them on the breakfast table.

"Um..." Beca stammered, "She was with me. We were together. I mean, we were hanging out in the same room. Not together like, together, together." 

Beca was losing it. She had been unsuccessfully squelching memories of her and Chloe making out for the past ten hours, and she was beyond her wit’s end. Of course, stifling thoughts about Chloe had been made marginally easier by the fact that Bumper had been murdered the night before, but Beca still couldn’t help but feel a jolt of electricity throughout her body every time she looked at Chloe. Or thought about Chloe.

"Smooth," Stacie snorted. Stacie remembered how smitten the two girls had seemed with one another the previous night.

"So maybe they both did it," Flo reasoned.

"Makes sense to me," Jessica shrugged.

"This is insane!" Chloe cried out. 

"Yeah," Beca agreed with Chloe, not daring to look the other girl in the eyes. "Mostly because we haven't even talked about Aubrey yet. I mean isn't it weird that she's just... I don't know, back here this year?"

"Oh, the same way Chloe is back here this year?" Stacie challenged. If Beca was going to drag her new love interest through the mud, well, Stacie wouldn't refrain from doing the same thing with Beca's... well, sort-of love interest. Stacie wasn't quite sure where things stood with Chloe. "I certainly don't hear you raising any issues about that," Stacie added for good measure.

"Because she's..." Beca trailed off in frustration. Beca was coming dangerously close to saying something she shouldn't. Something that admitted her feelings for Chloe ran a little deeper than those of a platonic friend. Fuck. 

"What?" Stacie begged Beca to finish her thought.

Chloe sighed, reasserting her voice in the conversation. "Ladies, we have to stop this. This is exactly what the killer wants us to do. The killer wants to tear us apart because it makes it easier to pick us off one by one."

The timing was perfect, as a knock on the door interrupted the conversation from further degeneration. Opening the front door, Kommissar stepped into the foyer, her boot-clad feet hitting the hard wood with loud, even thuds.

The conversation effectively screeched to a grinding halt as a door opened and a familiar set of footprints stalked through the foyer of the house. As she entered the kitchen, Kommissar called out, "Hello ladies and tiny mouse. Are we ready to go to our classes?"

"I'm not a tiny mouse," Beca fumed as Kommissar entered the kitchen, her eyes gleaming with nefarious playfulness as she locked eyes with Beca.

"Funny," Kommissar mused, "You look tiny to me."

"Yeah, well, you look... physically flawless," Beca finished lamely, internally cursing herself. Dammit, why was she so bad at insulting this woman?

Aubrey looked around, noticing the growing smile on Kommissar's face, as well as the crestfallen face of her best friend, Chloe. Aubrey, like Stacie, had been present last night when Chloe and Beca were openly flirting and basically having eye sex with one another. Aubrey didn’t know what, if anything, had culminated from that interaction, and she didn’t have any desire to find out. What she did know, was that Chloe was hung up on the little hobbit, for whatever reason. And Beca was not going to get away with hurting her best friend.

"Come on, let's go," Aubrey impulsively stood up from her sear grabbed Beca's arm, pulling her out of her chair and away from the kitchen and Kommissar.

"Dude, what was that?" Beca hissed, as Aubrey yanked Beca into the foyer.

"You're flirting with her," Aubrey answered simply, once they were outside of earshot from the other women.

"No, I'm not," Beca argued, rubbing her arm from where Aubrey had brutally dragged her out of the kitchen.

Aubrey raised her eyebrows at Beca. "Admittedly, it's about the worst flirting I've ever seen... But, the point stands. You can't do that in front of Chloe."

"Huh?" Beca’s face reddened. 

"I'm not going to do you the service of spelling this out for you, Mitchell. Especially after you implied that I might be murdering people. The only reason I'm even talking to you right now is because Chloe is my best friend." Silently, Aubrey added to herself, “And I don’t want to see her get hurt.”

"Oh, wanna play that game?" Beca laughed sharply. "Who accused me of being a serial killer first?" Beca challenged, standing her ground. 

Beca’s verbal attack carefully skirted around the issue of Chloe and… well, whatever last night had been. Beca had been unsuccessfully trying to stifle those thoughts. There was no way Chloe was in her right state of mind when they had kissed. There was no chance in hell that any of it meant more than a drunken mistake to Chloe. I mean, Chloe was perfect. She was literally every good quality wrapped into a gorgeous person. People like Chloe did not go for sullen, sarcastic assholes like Beca. And besides, even if she did, Beca would end up fucking it all up anyhow. Beca prided herself with the title of Queen of Fuck-ups.

At this point, Amy clamored into the foyer and joined in on the hushed conversation, loudly asking, "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Aubrey and Beca answered in total unison.

Beca brushed Amy's shoulder as she walked past, effectively excusing herself from the conversation.

"Short Stack," Amy called over Beca's shoulder, "Where are you going?"

"Back to bed. Away from you all," Beca grumbled, stalking up the stairs without looking behind her.

“No, you’re not!” Aubrey called out futilely as Beca continued climbing the stairs. “You have chemistry in thirty minutes, and I’ll keel over dead before I let you skip class!”

Amy’s mouth contorted into that of a scrunched rubber band over hearing the words ‘keel over dead.’ A lob sob escaped from the Tasmanian.

“Amy, I’m sorry,” Aubrey soothed, kicking herself over her poor choice of words. “Come here,” Aubrey gestured, gently leading Amy into the living room to sit down.

Several minutes later, Chloe emerged from the kitchen, prepared to walk to Chemistry class. 

“Chloe?” Aubrey asked, sitting on the couch as she hugged a sobbing Amy. “I’ve got my hands full down here, would you mind going upstairs and wrangling the hobbit? She mistakenly informs me that she’s not going to class this morning.”

“Of course!” Chloe replied a little too chipperly, not wasting a second before darting up the stairs to fetch Beca.

Chloe had been waiting for nearly eleven hours now to have a moment alone with Beca. Understandably, after everything that happened last night, Beca hadn’t left Amy’s side, which meant that Chloe and Beca had been unable to finish what they had started. Although she figured it might be wrong to be giddy in the face of recent events, she couldn’t help but feel eager to have the younger girl to herself, even if for only a few moments.

“Becs?” Chloe called, entering into the bedroom. Chloe spotted a human-sized lump underneath the covers of Beca’s bed. The human beneath the covers did not answer.

“Becs?” Chloe called again. The lump beneath the bed shifted somewhat, but still did not answer Chloe.

“Beca Ann Mitchell!” Chloe demanded sharply.

“Jesus Christ, what?” Beca shot back, sitting up in bed. “I’m like, trying to sleep here.”

“Some greeting,” Chloe huffed, feeling a little put off over Beca’s rudeness. “You can’t skip class. Aubrey’s orders,” Chloe reminded Beca, crossing her arms over her chest.

“She can drag me out of bed and across campus if she wants me to go so badly.”

“Or I could,” Chloe responded with a wink and a chuckle, sitting down at the edge of Beca’s bed.

“You wouldn’t,” Beca warned.

“Try me,” Chloe fired back, wrapping her hands around Beca’s biceps. For someone that hated exercise, Beca was really quite toned, Chloe mused to herself.

A jolt shot from Beca’s skin and pulsated throughout her whole body from where Chloe had touched her. Shit, Beca thought. She hoped Chloe hadn’t noticed her flinching from where Chloe’s grip tightened into Beca’s arms. Beca’s mind involuntarily began flooding with inappropriate thoughts involving Chloe. 

Shaking her mind clear from those inappropriate thoughts, Beca reverted to sarcasm, her most successful method of deflection. “I didn’t know Satan’s messenger came with a vice grip.”

“Well maybe Satan’s messenger knows exactly who she’s dealing with,” Chloe replied, eliciting a small chuckle from Beca. Dammit, even her chuckle had to be sexy, Chloe thought, her eyes zeroing in around Beca’s mouth.

“I wanna lick your teeth,” Chloe admitted with astonishingly nonexistent shame.

“Wait, what?” Beca practically spat. That was not what Beca had been expecting Chloe to say. Beca’s heart had just skipped several beats and suddenly, she was having trouble breathing.

“They’re so white,” Chloe continued smoothly, unaffected by Beca’s shock. Chloe dipped her head to peer into Beca’s mouth. What she would give to run her tongue across Beca’s mouth.

“Dude!” Beca protested, snapping her mouth shut and pursing her lips together tightly.

“Oh, come on, Becs, it’s a totally normal thing to ask.”

“It’s not remotely normal.”

Chloe sighed heavily and looked intently at Beca’s mouth. Her teeth were so perfect and white. And the way her incisors pointed at the ends was so sexy. The way her lips curled around her teeth when she was smiling was perfect.

Reality broke for a moment and Beca’s heart hammered loudly in her chest. Beca caught herself gazing down at Chloe’s lips. Was Chloe really… Beca snapped out of her… insanity. Yes, insanity. This is exactly what this was, Beca concluded.

“You’re a psycho,” Beca dismissed, shaking Chloe and turning to walk away. “Maybe you did commit those murders, after all,” Beca mused sarcastically.

Chloe stiffened. “Don’t… say that,” she whispered quietly.

“What? I was kidding,” Beca backtracked, turning around to get a look at the older girl. 

Chloe looked upset. Pained, actually. Beca’s stomach dropped as she took in the sight. Seeing Chloe upset made Beca’s world feel like it was bottoming out. Beca hadn’t meant to offend Chloe. She had only meant to get away from whatever Chloe was doing to her… because when Chloe looked at Beca like she wanted to kiss her, well… it was too much for Beca to handle.

“Well, it’s not funny,” Chloe responded coldly, grabbing her keys off her desk and turning around to leave the bedroom.

“Jesus,” Beca cursed under her breath as she struggled to keep pace with Chloe, who was now walking out of the Bella house like she had a plane to catch. 

Of course Beca had to go and say something to piss Chloe off. Not that Beca would expect anything less of herself. The girls said nothing to one another as they walked across campus, the silence overpowering the two until they arrived to class.

“I’m sorry,” Beca whispered over to Chloe as they settled into Chemistry class. Beca was unsure how much longer she could bear Chloe’s silent treatment. “I was a dick.”

Chloe raised her eyebrows and said nothing as she stared steadfastly ahead at the whiteboard. Beca felt her stomach drop with a thud at Chloe’s unenthused response to Beca’s apology. Why the fuck, all of a sudden, did Beca care so damn much about Chloe’s feelings? It was… insufferable. The chemistry class passed slowly, especially since Beca’s lab partner was now giving her the silent treatment. Beca wasn’t able to pay the least bit of attention to the chemistry lecture because all she could think about was how shitty she felt about Chloe feeling shitty. Chloe’s bad mood was literally the only thing upon which Beca could focus. It almost made Beca eager to reconvene with the other Bella’s in the cafeteria for lunch that day. Almost. 

As Beca and an unusually quiet Chloe walked into the cafeteria that afternoon, they were greeted by a group of sullen Bella’s. After the morning’s witch-hunt, none of the girls were speaking to one another, but rather, were standing sullenly together for the sole fact that they were required to stand together. Worse yet, the Bella’s were soon graced with the voices of their least favorite campus reporters. Fucking Gail and fucking John.

"Gail, nearly a week has passed since the unfortunately public lynching of Bumper Allen."

"Six days, to be exact. And let me tell, you the campus is reeling with-" Gail was suddenly interrupted by a random news reporter pushing past Gail to find a place to set up a televised interview.

"Excuse me,” the reporter mumbled as he walked past Gail.

"Ow! So rude,” Gail observed.

"This campus is just teaming with news reporters from around the nation,” John complained.

"But remember, we were here first," Gail pointed out with thrill.

"Yes, for once in our lives, something has gone our way. We were, indeed, the first to crack the story around Barden's mysterious serial killer."

"And now Barden University, a once unrecognized university, has become the epicenter of the country's attention,” Gail clamored.

"Particularly, the a-capella community, it seems. Someone has got it out for those guys."

"And girls."

"Let's not make this about 'feminism,'" John replied, using his fingers to air quote.

"Oh!” Gail cried, as she recognized the Bella’s making their way to a cafeteria table. “There are the Barden Bellas right now! Beca! Fat Amy!"

"Fuck," Beca cursed under her breath.

"Remember, we aren't going to acknowledge them," Aubrey warned to group sternly, mostly directing the warning to Amy.

"Gotcha," Amy agreed, clicking her tongue and winking.

"Fat Amy! How are you handling the death of Bumper Allen?" John called over to Amy.

Unable to resist Aubrey’s admonition, Amy fired back, "I'm gonna find that serial killer and ring him like a-"

"Amy!” Aubrey scolded harshly. “The police are handling the investigation thoroughly and we are just trying to stay out of the way."

"Thoroughly might not be my word of choice," Gail countered.

"Erm, yeah,” Amy agreed, “If by 'thoroughly,' you mean like a bunch of untrained circus monkeys. If it were up to me, I'd-"

"It's not up to you, Fat Amy. Come on," Aubrey demanded.

"Why does she keep interrupting me?" Amy asked to no one in particular, searching the faces of the other Bellas for an answer.

Beca shrugged as she fell into line behind Aubrey and Amy.

The curse of unwanted company continued as the Bellas stumbled across none other than Evermoist in the cafeteria. Chloe couldn’t help but display her look of deep contempt at the girls as they made their way over to the Bella’s.

"Aw, how cute,” Calamity chided. “The Barden Bellas are being toted to lunch."

The Bella’s said nothing as they looked at the floor.

Smirking, Veracity continued, "Some murder the other night, huh? Strange he appeared to be leaving from your house when he got the axe... or the flagpole, right?"

"I'm gonna finish you like a sandwich for lunch!" Amy bellowed, jolting forward to make a jab at Veracity. Amy had to be held off by Beca, Aubrey, and CR, who struggled to keep her from breaking free from their grasps.

"Hah. You sloppy, uncoordinated bunch of losers couldn't even finish a set list," Charity teased.

"Oh, wanna bet?" Amy seethed through clenched teeth.

"I would, but your babysitters won't even let you out of the house to have a riff off,” Calamity answered calmly, relishing every part of this moment. “And besides, I'm sure you're still too busy wallowing in the death of your pathetic ex-boyfriend."

"Joke's on you, he's not my ex-boyfriend," Amy fired back.

"Isn't he?” Calamity asked rhetorically. “Let's see. He was your boyfriend, and then he died. I think that makes him an ex, don't you?"

"AHHHH-" Amy began charging full speed ahead toward Calamity, knocking the smug brunette off her feet in one smooth sweep. No amount of strength from Beca, Aubrey, or CR could challenge Amy’s brute strength in this moment.

Calamity’s tray of food went flying high in the air, almost as if in slow motion. Several seconds later, a sandwich and the contents from a bowl of soup landed in Flo's hair.

After standing in stunned silence for a second or two, Flo yelled out, observing the now-present stains on her clothing. Flo began yelling expletives in her native tongue, charging at the other four Evermoist girls. Charity caught Flo's arm easily, smearing a piece of pie into her jacket while the other three girls looked on, laughing evilly. Calamity, meanwhile, was wrestling Amy on the dirty floor of the cafeteria.

Lilly, CR, and Stacie exchanges glances, each shrugging, as if to say, 'What the hell? Let's do this food fight.' In no time at all, Lilly pulled a slingshot out of her pocket, scooped the bowl of peas from Beca's lunch tray, and darted away to a remote corner of the cafeteria.

Stacie and CR, meanwhile, unspokenly decided to stay out of any physical altercations with the Evermoist girls. CR helped Stacie unwrap the foil from her hotdogs and Stacie launched the hotdogs at Charity, the closest-standing Evermoist member.

"Yeah, take that!" CR taunted, as the first hotdog hit Charity squarely in the face.

Mere moments later, a steady stream of peas began launching across the room and hitting the Evermoist girls in the face and hair, like tiny bullets.

"What the fuck?" Veracity screamed, turning around to locate the source of the flying peas.

"This. Is. Unacceptable," Aubrey seethed with anger. These girls were out of control. All of them. Aubrey hiccupped, foreseeing an imminent vomit. Suddenly, Aubrey was hit in the chest with a cheeseburger, the ketchup and mustard smearing itself on the front of her dress.

"No, fuck that. This is WAR!" Aubrey bellowed loudly, opening her containers of salad dressing, and hurling them at Evermoist without discretion. Unleashing her anger prevented Aubrey from vomiting. All in all, this was probably a better outcome, Aubrey figured.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Amy managed to scream out. She was now sitting on Calamity's legs, preventing the smaller girl from wriggling away.

"You. LOSERS!" Calamity yelled in broken syllables, as she struggled to writhe free of Amy's hold.

"HEY!" Ashley barked, uncapping the lid to Jessica's fruit smoothie, as she stalked over to where Calamity laid helplessly on the ground. "Don't you ever call MY FAMILY losers!" Ashley poured the contents of the smoothie on Calamity's face, shaking the cup to make sure it all landed in her hair. Calamity coughed and spat, trying to overcome the purple liquid now running down her face.

Beca, meanwhile, was grabbing fistfuls of macaroni and pelting Serenity, while Serenity chucked pieces of broccoli at Beca. Between throws, Beca called out to Calamity, "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!"

Chloe looked around the cafeteria. The girls were now engaged in full-fledged warfare as they flung food, liquid, and condiments at one another, all-the-while yelling obscenities. Pieces of broccoli, peas, and lettuce clung to Chloe's body.

After several more moments, Charity managed to wiggle free of Amy's clutches, quickly scrambling to her feet and charging Chloe. Chloe's eyes widened with abject fear as she braced herself for the inevitable. Before Calamity could manage to make impact with Chloe, she heard a loud bang and Calamity collapsed to the cafeteria floor with a thud.

Chloe shifted her gaze to the left and saw Beca standing next to her, triumphantly wielding a cafeteria tray. As Calamity laid, groaning in pain, Beca leaned over her. Sharply, Beca warned, "If you ever mess with her or try to lay a finger on her again, I promise it won't be a fucking lunch tray that I hit you with."

Before matters could escalate further, a man in a suit came pushing his way through the cafeteria, which was now completely littered with food. The entire cafeteria, it appeared, had joined in the fun. Every student was now engaged in the biggest food fight that Barden University had ever seen. Even the reporters, it seemed, had been hit by flying pieces of food.

"Beca!" Mr. Mitchell called sharply to his daughter. His daughter, who was holding a cafeteria tray as a weapon and standing over another college student, who was crumpled on the floor.

"Why in the world do I always find you in the middle of this stuff?"

"Poor timing?" Beca responded meekly.

Mr. Mitchell sighed with exasperation before demanding the food fight cease fire.

Kommissar barged through the crowds of food-stained reporters and Barden students as she made her way over to the Bella’s.

"What happened here?" Mr. Mitchell asked.

"They were trying to fight us," Amy answered, shrugging.

"Believe me, dad, it was their fault," Beca agreed.

"I'm not sure what to believe anymore."

"You don't trust your own daughter?" Beca asked, her tone laced with annoyance.

"I know what you're capable of," Mr. Mitchell muttered, rubbing his temples.

"And what the hell does that mean?" Beca challenged.

"That you have a way of instigating these types of scuffles."

Kommissar cut in, "It was not their fault. I saw with my own eyes. That shabby, brunette girl from Evermoist hit Beca with a lunch plate."

"A tray?" Mr. Mitchell asked in disbelief.

"Yes. She, how do you say, whacked her head with the lunch plate," Kommissar lied.

"Really?" Mr. Mitchell asked skeptically. He shifted his gaze to Beca, who was holding the offending lunch tray. This account was not adding up.

"I am sure of it," Kommissar affirmed.

Beca’s dad considered for a moment, before apparently accepting Kommissar’s telling of the events.

"Well... I guess, I owe you an apology, Beca Bear,” he apologized.

"Save it," Beca muttered.

"I'm sorry I assumed the worst. Clearly, you were all just looking out for one another."

"We're family," Flo responded with a shrug.

"Right. Well, keep your heads up, ladies. We'll get through this yet. Ms. Kommissar? With me, please?" Mr. Mitchell requested.

"Of course,” she agreed. Turning to the Bellas, Kommissar concluded with a sly smirk, “Bye, bye, tiny mice."

The Bellas watched in disbelief as Mr. Mitchell and Kommissar exited the cafeteria. Looking around them, they noticed that the cafeteria was in pure shambles. Food was everywhere. The students and news reporters were all picking stray items of food from their hair and clothing. The Evermoist girls were picking themselves up and high-tailing it out of the cafeteria. After a few moments of stunned silence, Stacie broke the silence.

"Okay, what the flying fuck?" Stacie asked. "She definitely just lied for us."

"Yeah, thank God," Jessica heaved.

"I don't trust her motives,” Ashley tutted, “I don't know what she's up to, but I know she's up to something."

"Ladies?" Aubrey asked. "You know what this all means, right?”

The Bellas said nothing, but looked at Aubrey expectantly.

"We've got a lot of reasons to distrust the world out there,” Aubrey continued, “And if we're going to make it through, we have to stick together."

"No more witch hunts," Chloe added.

"Agreed,” CR interjected. “I know all of y'all, and none of you are capable of what this killer has done."

"Hands in, aca-bitches," Aubrey demanded.

As the girls placed their hands on top of one another’s, Chloe locked eyes with Beca and for the first time in hours, they smiled at one another. Beca had just defended her by hitting Calamity with a lunch tray. And if Chloe was being honest, it was more than a little hot. I mean, not that violence was ever hot, but Beca had just defended her. Chloe had hope yet that she would finally get her right where she wanted her.

The rest of the afternoon passed far less eventfully as the Bella’s finished their afternoon classes and headed back to the Bella house. The intense drama of the past eighteen hours, it seemed, had just melted away. Of course, thoughts of the murders were not far from anyone’s mind, especially Amy’s, but for the time being, everything felt like it was going to be okay. Pursuant to Aubrey’s strong insistence, the Bella’s proceeded with Bella rehearsal that evening. Chloe and Beca, who were now talking, though not about their kiss from the prior night, led a successful rehearsal. The practice concluded and the girls eased into their easy routine of getting along with one another.

Beca, despite feeling resolved over the Bella conflict from earlier, was still desperately trying to avoid intimate moments with Chloe. Or looking at Chloe for too long. Or thinking about Chloe for too long. Because doing those things made Beca involuntarily feel… well, things she did not want to feel. Groaning, Beca tried to shake herself from whatever insanity she was currently suffering. 

“Okay,” Beca thought to herself, reasoning desperately to find a solution to her insanity. “I’m just going to force myself to look at Chloe right now. And I’m going to feel nothing. And then all of these thoughts are just going to go away. Because I feel nothing. It’s going to be great.”

Beca stole a casual glace over at Chloe, who was engrossed in conversation with Flo and CR. The next moments felt utterly surreal, almost as if Beca were living outside of her own body. Her skin tingled with goose bumps, not that she particularly noticed, as her field of vision narrowed focus to just one other person in the world. Chloe. Chloe tipped back her head and laughed, and Beca could swear it was the sweetest sound she had ever heard. Light radiated from her soul when she smiled, the bridge of her nose endearingly crinkling as her light blue eyes sparkled radiantly. It was a melody, a harmony, a symphony--all of it. She was music, coursing strongly through Beca's veins, settling in every depth of her being.

Beca's breath caught in the throat as Chloe approached her. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? Beca had spoken to Chloe no less than a thousand times, so why did this time feel so different? Oh God. Beca's brain fumbled around as she felt her cheeks flushing. She had just been staring creepily at Chloe for an unspecified amount of time. Beca sincerely hoped that Chloe hadn't picked up on this.

"Like what you see?" Chloe asked flirtatiously as she approached Beca, throwing in a wink for good measure.

Shit. Chloe had picked up on it. Beca's cheeks grew even redder, causing Chloe's grin to grow even wider. She wasn't sure what she had done to elicit this response from Beca, but whatever it was, she wanted to do it again and again. She loved seeing Beca this way. It was almost if-

"I think I must be sick," Beca blurted out, bringing her hands up to feel the heat radiating off her cheeks. There was no other explanation why she felt so totally off kilter right now, right?

Chloe, recoiled, all of her coyness dissipating as she looked at Beca with concern. "Sick? What's wrong?" Chloe asked, reaching her hand out to check Beca's forehead for a fever.

Beca jumped back before Chloe's hand could make contact with her skin. No way she was going to let that happen again. "It's..." Beca trailed off, trying to recover, "Stress. Probably."

"Oh," Chloe responded, definitely noticing that Beca had gone out of her way to avoid Chloe's touch. Chloe frowned, twisting her lips together. Beca was... something was different. And it wasn't the "stress."

"Yeah," Beca continued, seeing Chloe's crestfallen face. For some odd reason, Chloe's frown stung Beca right in the heart. She wasn't sure why, but all of a sudden, it felt very important to mend things. "But in case it isn't, I'm gonna... go lie down. I really don't wanna get you sick. After everything. I, uh, want you to stay well."

Chloe's face lit up somewhat over Beca's concern, although she still hated that Beca wasn't feeling well. "That's sweet of you," Chloe observed with a kind smile.

"Yeah, that's me," Beca babbled awkwardly, internally sighing with relief that Chloe was no longer unhappy. Beca could now breathe a little more easily. Again, why she cared so strongly, she did not know. "So, um, I'm gonna," Beca pointed to the stairs, excusing herself from the conversation.

"Let me know if you need anything, okay babe?" Chloe called out as Beca began making her way up the stairs.

Beca's face grew red a second time while she tried to ignore the weird lurching feeling in her stomach. Dammit. What the hell was happening to her? Sure, Chloe was throwing her for a loop, but why? Why now? And what did she have to do to make it go away? Because she was all but sure that Chloe wasn't getting these weird heart-jumping moments over Beca.

By the time Chloe made it into bed that evening, Beca was already asleep. In her own bed, Chloe was disappointed to notice. Chloe had become quite used to snuggling up with Beca each evening. She had even relished it. Of course, it was possible that Beca really was sick and was trying to prevent Chloe from catching any illnesses. It was also possible, Chloe thought with a frown, that Beca was avoiding her after their heated make-out session from the prior night.

Reluctantly, Chloe got ready for bed and climbed into her own bed, alone. Neither girl slept restfully that night. Chloe tossed and turned, unable to get fully comfortable without a Beca to cuddle. It didn’t help matters that Beca was whimpering and moaning in her sleep, presumably from nightmares. The next morning, the girls woke up and got ready for classes. It seemed to Chloe that Beca was feeling better from whatever mystery illness had overtaken her the previous evening.

Chloe watched Beca lacing up her shoes. Not being one to successfully mask her feelings, Chloe blurted out, "I miss you."

Beca’s face froze in place and her eyes remained fixed on a spot on the floor. "You see me all the time," Beca answered, casually and evenly dismissing Chloe’s implications.

"I know, but I still miss you," Chloe restated, intent on getting to the bottom of matters with Beca. “We aren’t sleeping together anymore,” she remarked.

Beca inhaled a sharp breath, not daring to look at Chloe. “I- uh, yeah. That bed is tiny.” 

Chloe nodded letting her eyes drop to the floor. It almost looked like she was disappointed or something, Beca mused. Dammit. For like, the millionth time recently, Beca had said something to make Chloe unhappy. And of course, Beca knew well enough by this point to not be surprised by the physical lurch in her stomach over having made Chloe upset. 

“I just… don’t want you to have to keep dealing with me cramming in there with you,” Beca added hastily, hoping Chloe’s mood would improve if she thought Beca was looking out for her best interests.

“Well, thanks, I guess,” Chloe responded dully, turning around to leave for class.

For the second time that week, Beca was stuck practically chasing Chloe to class, while internally lamenting over the fact that she couldn’t fucking keep it together with Chloe. I mean, was she really all that much to blame? They had made out, for God’s sake and Beca didn’t know what that meant and it was fucking weird. Of course, Beca could always talk with Chloe about it… but that would require opening up. And that was fucking weirder. Beca opted for the easier option. Sitting next to a silent Chloe throughout the duration of class and internally dying over the fact that Chloe was upset. The girls did not speak again until Bella practice that afternoon.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today,” CR pointed out to Beca, noticing that the smaller girl was scowling into outer space, not bothering to participate in a single activity that evening.

“Maybe she woke up in the wrong bed altogether,” Chloe added with a jab.

Beca’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at the other girls, who were all observing Beca with curiosity. 

“What’s wrong, Short Stack?” Amy asked. “I figured if one of us here was going to go all postal, it should be me. Bumper was my shack stack, if you know what I mean.”

Aubrey cut in, “Seriously though, Beca, you’ve been more than checked out for the whole practice, so far. What gives?”

“I can’t fucking… think right now, I’m so…” Beca trailed off, frustration obviously getting the better of her. 

She couldn’t fucking think and it was all Chloe’s fault. Every single moment, thoughts of Chloe were swimming through her head, and she couldn’t make it stop. Every single time she so much as glanced at Chloe, her heart felt like it was stopping dead in her chest and jolts of God knows what would pulsate throughout her body. Every single time Chloe was mad or disappointed with her, which admittedly had been a lot over the past two days, her mind would spin itself into a warp of self-deprecation. And all of it, was… it was so overwhelming. And Beca didn’t understand any part of it.

“Emotionally overwhelmed?” Flo supplied, trying to be helpful.

Beca frowned, looking over at Flo. She had no idea of the half of it.

“You could always talk about it, you know,” Chloe ventured, offering Beca an olive branch to mend her earlier avoidances.

Beca flinched, not allowing herself to look over at Chloe. She couldn’t. It would just… make her feel more things and she did not want to deal with feeling more things.

“I’m fine,” Beca offered simply, choosing not to accept Chloe’s offer. “Thanks, guys.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, a sign of frustration that was not lost on the other Bellas.

“Sounds like trouble in paradise,” Stacie muttered under her breath.

Chloe, having overheard the comment snapped. She was suddenly through with whatever bullshit Beca was offering today. Yes, Chloe and Beca had made out the other night. And yes, it had been everything Chloe hoped it would be. Clearly, Chloe could see that Beca hadn’t felt the same way. And that stung, really, really badly. But Chloe was adult enough to be able to handle that rejection, even if it was coming from the person she adored most in this entire world. What Chloe couldn’t handle, however, was Beca’s complete unwillingness to move on and treat Chloe like a friend. Chloe could never accept the idea that her friendship with Beca would end.

"Are you avoiding me?" Chloe asked Beca, crossing her arms over her chest.

Beca averted her eyes and stared at the ground. "No."

"That's a pile of shit," Stacie barged in, offering her two cents on the matter.

"I will actually hit you," Beca seethed, glaring daggers at Stacie.

Stacie took two steps back and swallowed. Somehow, Beca's threat seemed real. "I was just..."

"She was just telling the truth," Chloe finished, not shying away from Beca's intimidation games.

"Great. So you're ganging up on me." Beca rolled her eyes.

"Maybe we are, does it matter?" Chloe asked, taking a step closer to Beca. Softening her tone, Chloe continued, "You're avoiding me." Her voice almost sounded pained.

Beca squeezed her eyes shut and sighed deeply. Shit. She had upset Chloe. Again. After collecting her thoughts for several moments, Beca opened her eyes, still staring at the ground. 

"Sorry, I just- I'm not good with words. I think I'm going through something."

"With Chloe?" Stacie asked, apparently not bothered by the fact that she was being incredibly intrusive and nosy.

"Dude, can you like... not be here right now?" Beca asked with irritation.

"Sorry for helping you get your feelings out," Stacie answered with mock remorse, before back-stepping away from the conversation.

Within moments, the other Bellas cleared the room, giving their two co-captains the space to talk about whatever it was about which they were fighting.

Chloe picked up right where Stacie left off. "You're going through something?"

"No. Yes. Sort of... I don't know. It's different."

"Different, how?" Chloe asked with curiosity. "Did I do something to upset you?" Chloe absentmindedly reached out and rubbed Beca's arm.

Beca flinched at the touch, causing Chloe to retract her arm with a frown. Beca internally berated herself a second time, both for flinching and for feeling a wave of electric shock at Chloe's touch.

"No," Beca affirmed, looking Chloe square in the eyes. Dammit, there was that electrically charged feeling again, coursing strongly throughout her body. Beca squelched the feeling before continuing, "I'm not upset. I'm... something else and I don't know what."

Chloe's heart leapt as she felt herself building up with hope. Chloe knew it was pointless to hope that Beca actually had an iota of the feelings that Chloe had for Beca.

Can I ask you something?" Beca asked hesitantly. 

"Sure, ask away," Chloe replied with a chipper tone, glad that Beca was finally opting to open up with Chloe.

Beca opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The nerves overtaking her, Beca backtracked, "Never mind. It's stupid."

"I'm sure it's not stupid," Chloe reasoned, rubbing Beca's arm reassuringly.

Sighing Beca replied, "Let's just forget about it."

"Okay," Chloe agreed reluctantly, letting her arm drop from Beca's.

Beca missed the physical contact with Chloe immediately, sending her mind into a further tailspin. As Beca intently studied a patch on the ground, her mind kept running in circles. Why did Chloe suddenly have this odd effect on Beca? What about her had changed? How could she make it un-change?

"You're still thinking about it," Chloe observed, after a few moments of silence.

Chloe was right. Beca wasn't going to stop thinking about it. Slowly glancing up at Chloe, Beca cautiously met her beautiful eyes. Beca's heart lurched at the sight of her. Chloe was undeniably right. This problem wasn't going away. Every time Beca looked at Chloe, this problem was going to resurface, perhaps even stronger than the time before. These odd... feelings were going to come barreling back, time and time again. Beca had to bite the bullet.

Finally, Beca agreed, "Yeah. It's... I can't get my head around it."

"Maybe I could help you get your head around it if you told me," Chloe pointed out kindly.

"I... Ah. Fine," Beca replied, giving up the fight. "But promise you won't think I'm crazy?" She pleaded, her eyes searching Chloe's for the reassurance she desperately needed.

"I would never think that. I promise," Chloe answered gently, grabbing Beca's hand and rubbing the back of her hand with her thumb.

Beca's skin prickled at the contact and how it felt to have Chloe's thumb caressing her hand. Shit. This was becoming really fucking problematic, Beca thought, as she tried and failed to simultaneously wrestle the pleasant tightening in her lower stomach and the panicking nerves she was experiencing over the anticipation of opening up to Chloe. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? I mean, Chloe had just promised to listen without judgment.

"Okay. Here goes," Beca swallowed nervously. Metaphorically shaking her head clear, Beca started, "So have you ever had a thing happen where someone you know becomes... different, somehow? Like, you know they're the same person but you just start seeing them differently one day for some reason?"

Chloe bit her bottom lip. She thought she knew what Beca was getting at but wasn't sure. "Could you explain?" She asked.

"Yeah," Beca backtracked, starting again, "So have you ever looked at someone, someone you're close to, and suddenly, they're everywhere and everything? All the time. And you know they haven't changed and you know you haven't changed, but you can't understand why it suddenly feels like their presence in your life is painfully vital to your own being. Like you don't feel like yourself anymore without them. But the weirdest part is, it all feels kind of good. Like really good. So I mean this all to say... I don't know what's happening to me," Beca finished in a small voice, clearly conveying the helpless state in which she found herself.

Chloe nodded, understanding, while internally, her heart felt like it was leaping out of her chest with joy. Her stomach filled with butterflies as she felt a warmth spread throughout her body. Chloe’s face spread into a gentle smile when she turned her gaze to rest upon Beca’s furrowed look of confusion, raising her eyebrows at Beca and not saying a word. Did she really need to tell Beca the obvious? 

"No, no. It's not love," Beca fought beck stubbornly, as if she could read Chloe’s mind. "It's this... deep friendship where you want to always be with them and sure, the thought of kissing them is... Dammit. I- I..." Beca trailed off, realization suddenly dawning on her as her face fell.

Again, Chloe said nothing, but her grin grew even wider. It took every ounce of willpower not to pounce on Beca in this moment and smother her with her lips, but Chloe somehow resisted. Beca needed to make this realization on her own.

"Jesus Christ. I am," Beca agreed, after several seconds of silence. "Dammit," Beca added harshly. Love? How on earth did love sweep under Beca's radar so unexpectedly and change everything? This was inconvenient to say the least.

"I uh, I need to..." Beca began walking out of the living room, her fingers running through her hair. 

Chloe’s face fell. She felt any chance that Beca had been about to come around had just flown out the window. Beca, meanwhile, was also reeling. These feelings were... unexpected to say the least. That her fixation, for lack of better word, was actually love. She knew something weird was happening with Chloe, but she never considered it was love. In hindsight it was probably obvious, Beca could admit.

“How’d it go?” Stacie asked, catching Beca right as she left the living room. The girls had been polite enough not to intrude on Beca and Chloe’s conversation, but that didn’t mean Stacie wasn’t polite enough not to ask what had happened. 

“I need…” Beca trailed off, unable to complete a sentence, as her mind was reeling over the fact that she was in love. With Chloe. Beca was in love with the most perfect, beautiful, wonderful person in this entire world. 

“Space?” Aubrey offered, for once saying something that Beca considered helpful.

“Yes,” Beca agreed readily.

“To get to the bottom of whatever fight you’re in with Chloe?” Amy asked.

“We’re not… fighting.”

“Fucking?” Stacie asked evenly, nodding her head as though that were the only other logical option.

“Stacie!” Aubrey admonished.

“What?” Stacie shrugged. “I’m sure we’re all wondering it…”

The other girls shrugged and nodded reluctantly. 

“We are neither fighting nor fucking,” Beca clarified, steeling a digging glare at Stacie.

“Then you’ve sorted out your issues with Chloe?” Aubrey asked, circling the conversation back around to its relevancy.

“Not exactly. I need… space.”

Aubrey sighed. Of course, Aubrey adored Chloe. She was her best friend in the world. And in a strange way, Aubrey kind of adored the hobbit too, though she would be caught dead before ever admitting it. Mostly, Aubrey wanted to see them happy, and clearly they wouldn’t be happy until they had whatever talk they needed to have. Aubrey could admit that serious talks were often hard to accomplish with nine other girls in close proximity.

“I’ll find you and Chloe some space,” Aubrey offered resolutely.

“Woah, that’s not exactly what I meant by ‘need space,’” Beca back-peddled.

“I know what you meant,” Aubrey began. “And that’s not an option,” she continued, scrolling intently though her phone, finding the contact she needed. Clicking on the green ‘call’ button, Aubrey waited for the other voice to pick up the phone. This person owed Aubrey a favor and today, he was going to repay that favor.

“Luke?” Aubrey asked, as the other voice picked up the phone. “Beca has a shift over there at the radio station this evening, right?”

Beca stood in stunned silence as she tried to figure out exactly what was going on. What was Aubrey getting at, here?

“No?” Aubrey asked with mock surprise, a few moments later. “Well she told me that she did. And to be honest with you, I think the stress from recent events has really gotten to her.”

Beca opened her mouth to object, but Aubrey silenced her with a finger.

“She needs to get away from it all, I’m sure you can understand,” Aubrey continued. Pausing, Aubrey listened with a frown as the voice from the other side of the phone talked.

“Well, tell him to leave, can him, I don’t care. Beca is working this evening. You owe me, if you catch my drift.” Aubrey hung up the phone, satisfied with herself over a job well done. Nobody said ‘no’ to Aubrey Posen.

“You owe me?” Stacie was the first one to speak, smirking as she waited for Aubrey to spill the beans on Luke. Stacie wasn’t a jealous person, mostly because she had no reason to be. Whatever had occurred in the past with this Luke guy was of no importance to Stacie.

“Sick. Not like that,” Aubrey explained with disgust. “He was my lab partner in Organic Chemistry. And he would be retaking it this year if it weren’t for me.”

“Okay, whatever,” Beca dismissed with a wave of her hand, “But what the fuck just happened?” She seethed. She was having enough of a difficult time today without Aubrey’s meddling.

“Kind of dense, aren’t you?” Aubrey replied sarcastically. “You’re working at the station tonight,” Aubrey explained. “And of course you can’t go alone, so you’ll go with Chloe.”

Two hours later, Beca and Chloe found themselves dropped off at the radio station. Both girls were a jumble of nerves, each for different reasons. Chloe was jittering with nervous excitement over the prospect that Beca might finally come out and express her feelings for Chloe. Beca, meanwhile, knew that she needed to finally come out and express her feelings for Chloe, or ensue the wrath of Aubrey. 

The first hour at the radio station passed rather uneventfully, with Beca occasionally turning the tracks while Chloe bumbled around, nervously chattering about everything under the sun. Beca was concerned that she wouldn’t have the chance to get Chloe to stop talking long enough to tell her what Beca had on her mind. This dilemma resolved itself unfavorably when the girls received a call to the radio station several minutes later. 

Picking up the phone, Beca stated, "Hello? You’re on the air. Who am I speaking with?"

The girls, both now sitting in the DJ booth, could hear indecipherable chatter in the background. "...Jane," a girl answered. 

Chloe swore she knew the source of this voice, but she couldn’t place where.

Rolling her eyes, Beca continued, "Cool. Jane, so what do you want to hear?" It wasn’t unusual to get these kinds of calls into the station.

"Um,” Jane began nervously, “Could you play something for someone who has feelings for someone else but...” Jane dropped off. Beca and Chloe heard more indecipherable chatter. 

“What?” They heard Jane ask to one of the voices in the background. “Oh.”

To Beca, Jane continued, “Something for someone who doesn't know how to confess their feelings for someone else."

"Yeah,” Beca explained with reluctance, “I don't normally do these kinds of requests." Beca normally only took requests for specific songs. 

Beca and Chloe heard more talking in the background. It almost sounded to Chloe like Jane was being coached on what to say.

"Pretend you're playing something for C-” Jane stopped abruptly mid-sentence. “Shit, for the person you like."

Beca pursed her lips together. Something about this scenario seemed altogether odd. It sounded like Jane wasn’t really Jane, but rather, was calling Beca on purpose to provoke her. Suddenly, the pieces fell together and it dawned on Beca.

"Flo?" Beca asked into the phone.

"It's Jane...” The voice responded without conviction.

Beca remained silent.

“Okay, it's me,” Flo confessed, apparently deciding to drop her charade. “I'm really sorry, they made me do this," she apologized to Beca.

"I know,” Beca groaned. Her friends were both a blessing and a curse, it seemed. “I'm sure Amy's somewhere in the room. Probably Stacie, too."

"She's smart.” Beca and Chloe could hear Stacie from the background.

"Hi, Short Stack,” Amy greeted, her voice booming over the phone. “Just trying to finally sort out your feelings for-"

Click. Beca hastily disconnected the phone call. Beca froze with panic, her finger still hovering over the button on the phone.

"Feelings, huh?" Chloe mused knowingly.

"They're on crack, probably. I seriously don't know what they're talking about."

“Want to talk about it?" Chloe suggested gently. Both she and Beca knew that Beca was lying.

“Nope,” Beca replied, reverting back to her old ways of not opening up.

“Becs,” Chloe complained, placing her hand gently over Beca’s hand.

A pleasant electric charge jolted from Beca’s hand and coursed throughout her body. Right. That feeling. Love. Beca had to talk about this with Chloe. Because apparently love wasn’t something that went away so easily, despite Beca’s efforts.

“Fine,” Beca began, with all the enthusiasm of a cat being dragged into a shower. “So the other night.”

“Uh huh,” Chloe goaded, encouraging Beca to continue.

“We… um…” Beca trailed off awkwardly.

“Made out?” Chloe finished Beca’s thought with direct bluntness.

“Yeah,” Beca exhaled, acutely aware of how nervous she suddenly found herself. 

Beca searched Chloe’s eyes for a hint, looking for any indication of how Chloe felt about any of this.

“I know! It was aca-awesome!” Chloe exclaimed excitedly, squeezing Beca’s hand a little more tightly.

Beca involuntarily chuckled, reveling in how absolutely adorable Chloe was in this moment. Collecting herself, Beca continued, “I don’t normally do that. You know… kiss my friends.”

A crease developed between Chloe’s eyes, as her earlier excitement waned. “Are you saying you regret what happened?”

“No. I don’t at all,” Beca clarified quickly, not wanting to give the impression that her kiss with Chloe had been anything less than perfect.

“Me either,” Chloe responded softly, her mega-watt smile gracing her face, yet again.

“I gathered that from your earlier response,” Beca replied with a cocky smirk.

Chloe smiled, rolling her eyes.

“Arrogance is a good look on you, Becs.”

“Shut up,” Beca quipped back.

“Make me.” Chloe’s eyes took a predatory look as she raked her gaze from Beca’s eyes, down to her lips, and back up again.

Beca’s heart lurched in her chest and she suddenly felt like all of the air had been sucked out of her. Without thinking, Beca lurched forward, capturing Chloe’s lips with her own. Chloe smiled into the kiss, bringing her hand up to Beca’s cheek. The girls continued kissing one another, each unable to pull themselves away.

Chloe swiped her tongue along Beca’s bottom lip, seeking entrance. Beca opened her mouth, Chloe’s tongue clashing with her own. Fuck, this felt better than any feeling Beca had experienced in her entire life. Beca was kissing her friend. Chloe. And Chloe was kissing her back. And now Chloe was bringing her lips down and planting kisses on Beca’s neck, easily finding and honing in on that one spot that drove Beca crazy. Involuntarily, a deep gutted moan escaped Beca’s lips. Fuck. Beca’s cheeks reddened as she jolted away from Chloe. 

“Okay, we have to stop,” Beca panted, jumping up and breaking the kiss with Chloe, despite her inner desires screaming at her to continue letting Chloe do exactly what she had been doing.

“Why?” Chloe asked, clearly confused. Hadn’t everything been going perfectly?

“Because, I told you. I don’t do this. I don’t even know what this is,” Beca confessed, running a hand through her hair.

“Becs, is it really so important that you know what this is?” Chloe asked gently. 

“Kind of… You’re like my best friend, dude,” Beca confessed. “I just don’t want to… Please don’t give me that look, this isn’t easy for me either. I just…”

“I think I understand,” Chloe apologized, looking down at the floor to avoid crying. “I’m sorry that I got too hopeful about things.”

Beca looked on at Chloe, completely dumbfounded. Was she about to cry? Was she really disappointed about… this? I mean, surely a girl like Chloe could get any person she wanted. And she wanted… Beca? Beca couldn’t begin to understand why that might be.

“I’ve imagined thousands of similar variations of you and me getting together over the past year,” Chloe stated, filling the silence with her explanation. “And every time… I guess I just assumed…” she trailed off, unable to finish her thought. 

In all of her imagined variations of Beca and Chloe getting together, it hadn’t ended. Beca wanted her back. They stayed together, through all of it. They got old together. They woke up in each other’s arms, they bickered over what throw pillow to buy for the living room, and they did adorable, cheesy things like sharing desserts and having picnics. Chloe didn’t want to reckon with the possibility that those dreams would come tumbling down and shatter before her eyes.

“You surely don’t want-”

Chloe cut Beca off. Softly, but resolutely, Chloe told Beca, “You know what I want. You know where I stand. I want you, all of you, over and over again, every day. But if you tell me that you don’t want me that way, I’ll understand. I’ll back off and we can go back to being just friends.”

“I love you,” Beca blurted out suddenly. Beca turned on her heels to face Chloe, sharply inhaling as she studied Chloe's face for the inevitable reaction.

Chloe's eyes widened, bringing her head up to meet Beca's gaze from across the room. Oh my God. Did that mean that... Chloe's face lightened, giving Beca the confidence to continue.

Brazenly closing the distance between them, Beca took several steps towards Chloe. "I’m in love with you,” Beca continued softly, but with every confidence in the world. “Like, probably forever.”

Chloe's heart practically leapt out of her chest. This was the moment she had wanted to happen for so long. Here Beca was, looking at her like she was the only person that mattered. Confessing her love. Without wasting another second, Chloe stood up and captured Beca in her arms. She squeezed Beca tightly, relishing the best thing that had ever been hers.

The feel of Chloe's lips against Beca's lips was indescribably perfect. Beca almost couldn't believe it had taken this long to realize what she was missing. It was fireworks, only better. Beca had never felt this way in her entire life, she was certain. Chloe was... perfect. Her lips felt perfect. 

Chloe responded to Beca's action, deepening the kiss as she grabbed the back of Beca's head, pulling her closer. Beca's lips against her own jolted something within her. Suddenly, Chloe needed Beca, all of her, in as close proximity as was possible. Beca's lips worked against Chloe's steadily, providing the exact amount of pressure to drive her senses wild as they continued kissing one another slowly and passionately.

The better part of a minute passed before the girls pulled apart. Pulling herself away just enough to meet Beca's gaze, Chloe cupped Beca's cheeks in her hand before responding.

"I love you, too. So much, Becs," Chloe told Beca. Not that Beca doubted it from her response, but Chloe wanted to finally say it. She wanted Beca to know exactly how she felt.

“Come here,” Beca smiled, pulling Chloe into her arms.

"Does this mean I can sleep with you tonight?” Beca mumbled into Chloe’s ear, her fact nuzzled into Chloe’s neck. “In your bed, I mean. Not…"

"The answer is yes to either," Chloe replied half-jokingly.

“You’re such a stone-cold weirdo,” Beca chuckled, kissing Chloe’s cheek gently.

"You love me, though," Chloe responded, a warmth spreading throughout her body. Beca loved her. Her. 

"I do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, friends, I couldn't resist ending this slow burn that has been simmering. Of course, we have a whole lot of chapters ahead, so get excited! Thanks for all of the wonderful support so far, this has been such a fun story to write and it means so much more to know that people like you are out there and reading. Really, thanks a ton, you guys are great!

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so there it is! I'm really excited about this fic and I hope you are, too! Thanks for reading :)


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